Flood Protection/Alleviation

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent (a) in England and (b) in the Ouse catchment area on flood protection and alleviation measures by (i) the Government and (ii) City of York council in each year since 1996–97.

Elliot Morley: Defra funds most of the Environment Agency's flood related work and grant aids individual capital improvement projects undertaken by local authorities and, in low-lying areas, internal drainage boards. The programme to manage risk is driven by these operating authorities; Defra does not build defences, nor direct the authorities on what specific projects to undertake.
	Prior to April 2004 most of the Environment Agency's flood defence funding came from levies paid by local authorities. These levies have now largely been replaced by direct funding from Defra. Local authorities still pay some levies to the agency and also continue to fund other flood defence related work; such expenditure is supported by the local government funding mechanisms operated by what is now ODPM.
	Table 1 shows total central and local government expenditure on flood protection and alleviation measures in (a) England and (b) the Ouse catchment area. This includes expenditure on flood defences, flood warning, research and development etc. but excludes expenditure on measures primarily to reduce risk of coastal erosion (which can also sometimes help reduce flood risk).
	
		Table 1 £ million
		
			  England  
			  Defra grant and other expenditure Local authority expenditure Ouse catchment(1) 
		
		
			 1996–97 54.6 196.1 0.26 
			 1997–98 53.5 213.3 0.39 
			 1998–99 42.3 221.9 0.49 
			 1999–2000 41.6 236.1 0.59 
			 2000–01 51.0 251.3 0.98 
			 2001–02 69.8 269.4 1.59 
			 2002–03 91.2 287.5 1.69 
			 2003–04 93.4 309.2 3.97 
			 2004–05 376.9 73.8 3.97 
		
	
	(1) Defined as Environment Agency expenditure within the Ouse catchment between the confluence with the River Ure and the confluence with the River Derwent. Defra grant to local authorities and/or internal drainage boards within the Ouse catchment could not be determined without incurring disproportionate cost.
	Table 2 shows revenue (i.e. non-capital) spend by City of York council on their own flood defence measures and on special levies to internal drainage boards. The Council's expenditure is limited to investment in the Ouse catchment area.
	
		Table 2 £000
		
			  Flood defence revenue expenditure  IDB special levies 
		
		
			 1996–97 21 352 
			 1997–98 11 345 
			 1998–99 307 353 
			 1999–2000 50 361 
			 2000–01 73 391 
			 2001–02 106 453 
			 2002–03 81 480 
			 2003–04 98 484 
			 2004–05 114 504 
		
	
	Notes:
	Data for 2003–04 and 2004–05 were collected on a Financial Reporting Standard 17 (FRS17) basis. Figures before this were collected on a non-FRS17 basis so are not directly comparable to the 2003–04 and 2004–05 data.
	Source:
	ODPM Revenue Outturn (RO) forms—RO4/RO5 data.

Good Governance

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to promote good governance in the developing world; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: Good governance is at the core of DFID's work to reduce poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG)s. This recognises that developing and transitional states' ability to achieve the MDGs and eliminate poverty will depend greatly on the quality of their governance.
	DFID encourages improved governance and assists with governance reforms through specific programme activities, aid allocations and use of different ways of delivering aid. DFID's work supports seven broad areas: political systems that extend opportunities to poor people; economic management that brings stability and facilitates investment; delivery of policies that benefit the poor; raising revenue and delivering public services; maintenance of safety security and justice; national security; and accountability and tackling corruption. Governance reforms need to be prioritised, achievable and appropriate to context.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Department of International Development will be speaking about governance and its role in eliminating poverty on February 2nd at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. I will ensure a copy of his speech is sent to the right hon. Member for Guildford.

Cabin Air Supply

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will ask the Civil Aviation Authority to investigate organophosphate contamination of cabin air supply on commercial aircraft; and if he will make a statement.

Karen Buck: The House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology did an investigation, which reported in November 2000 and said:
	"The absence of confirmed cases of tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate (TOCP) poisoning from cabin air and the very low levels of TOCP that would be found in even in the highly unlikely worst case of contamination from oil leaking into the air supply lead us to conclude that the concerns about significant risk to the health of airline passengers and crew are not substantiated."
	In 2004 the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) published research into fume events by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Porton Down and the (then) Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. That concluded that
	'no single component or set of components can be identified which at conceivable concentrations would definitely cause the symptoms reported in cabin air quality incidents'.
	But acids were found which could act as irritants, and as a result CAA brought in specific troubleshooting and maintenance actions to minimise the potential for fume events.
	The inter-departmental Aviation Health Working Group has recently arranged for the independent Committee on Toxicity (COT) to review further evidence which the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) has collected. This process is under way and should help us to specify any further research needs in an area where public funds have already been invested without finding a link between cabin air and long-term health problems.
	Meanwhile, some research is starting in the USA funded by the Federal Aviation Administration. Government officials are in touch with the research team to monitor progress. In principle, we are interested to join in international research when we have a clearer idea of the needs, and we shall review our position on the American project after the COT has held a formal meeting in public in the spring.

Departmental Assets

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the items valued at over £100 that have been reported as stolen from buildings occupied by his Department in the past 12 months.

Karen Buck: Items reported as stolen, between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2005, which have a value of more than £100 are listed below:
	
		
			  £ 
			 Item Value 
		
		
			 8 flat screen computer monitors 3,081 
			 2 tool kits and cases 200 
			 1 overhead projector 300 
			 Computer parts removed from desks 190 
			 7 laptop computers 8,600 
			 1 printer 170 
			 1 desktop computer 1,000 
			 1 personal organiser 300 
		
	
	All buildings have appropriate security measures in place including both a manned presence at some locations or remote monitoring and response arrangements elsewhere. Incidents are reviewed and action taken to risk assess the need for improved security in that location in accordance with Government guidelines. The majority of incidents have also been reported to the police.

Driving Instructors

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the results of his Department's review of the regulatory arrangements for approved driving instructors.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department's Road Safety Strategy, "Tomorrow's Roads—Safer for Everyone", commits the Government to raising the standard of tuition offered by driving instructors. The Driving Standards Agency has commissioned three pieces of independent research into occupational standards for driving instructors and their continuing professional development. This can be viewed on the Agency's website. The Agency is currently engaged in discussion with the industry's consultative groups on how best to take these matters forward.

Road Gritting

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance the Government issues to local authorities on the gritting of roads during cold weather; and if he will (a) place a copy in the Library and (b) provide a weblink to the documents.

Karen Buck: The Government strongly recommend that local authorities carry out winter maintenance, including gritting, in accordance with Section 13 of "Well-maintained Highways, Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance Management" published by the UK Roads Liaison Group in July 2005. A copy of this is in the Library, and it is also available electronically at www.ukroadsliaisongroup.org

Safe Driving Skills

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what modern learning techniques have been developed by the Driving Standards Agency since September 2005 to help learners develop safe driving skills.

Stephen Ladyman: The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) is always looking at new and innovative ways of helping drivers to learn and prepare for their tests. Earlier this year the DSA launched a revised version of its free information DVD "Are You Ready?" This is sent to all categories of theory test candidate with the appointment letter. The DVD explains the nature of the different parts of the driving test and the standards that candidates need to reach.

Contractors

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many of the 41 contractors listed on 9 February 2004, Official Report, column 1177W were awarded follow-on contracts; and in cases where re-let contracts resulted in a new contractor, what the financial returns (percentage of basic material price) to his Department or the Treasury were from (a) the original and (b) the new contractors;
	(2)  whether the one case of arbitration referred to on of 9 February 2004, Official Report, column 1177W, has been finally settled.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 18 January 2006
	Of the 41 contractors listed on 9 February 2004, Official Report, column 1177W, four (Serial Nos. 3, 7,16 and 36) hold or have held follow-on contracts, although not for precisely the same scope of service as for the initial contracts. The contracts are "incentivised" agreements that allow contractors to retain a percentage of the final sale price of those items declared surplus to requirements. The information requested on financial returns is commercially confidential and as such is being withheld.
	The arbitration referred to 9 February 2004, Official Report, column 1177W, has not been settled.

Private Finance Initiative

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2005, Official Report, column 16W, on private finance projects, what the (a) capital value, (b) annual revenue cost, (c) start date and (d) end date is of each private finance initiative and public private partnership project his Department is undertaking.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 24 January 2006
	The information is provided in the following table. However, you should note:
	that the table contains an updated list of PPP projects including details of projects signed since the answer given on the 13 June 2005, Official Report, column 16W;
	that the Contract End Date, as given in the following table, is generally based upon the date that the contract was entered into. However, for certain projects, the Contract End Date is calculated from the date that the service provided under the contract becomes fully "operational";
	that the annual revenue cost of projects is commercially sensitive information and cannot therefore be provided. However the MOD Annual Report and Accounts 2004–05 provides details of the total payments made for PFI projects for the last two years and includes future service payment commitments.
	The information that you request cannot be given for projects that are either being considered or in procurement as the information has not yet been determined or is commercially sensitive.
	
		
			 Project name Contract entered into Contract end Contract period Capital value (£ millions) 
		
		
			 Army Foundation College (AFC) February 2000 December 2029 30 73 
			 ASTUTE Class Training Service (ACTS) September 2001 January 2037 36 80 
			 Attack Helicopters Training—Apache Simulator Training July 1998 September 2027 19 165 
			 Bristol, Bath and Portsmouth Family Married Quarters November 2001 September 2028 25 78 
			 C vehicles October 2004 April 2021 15 114 
			 Central Scotland Family Quarters (HQ) August 1999 January 2021 20 25 
			 Colchester February 2004 February 2039 35 539 
			 Commercial Satellite Communication Service—INMARSAT March 2001 March 2006 20 3 
			 Defence Animal Centre (DAC) August 2000 August 2025 25 11 
			 Defence Electronic Commerce Service (DECS) July 2000 July 2010 10 9 
			 Defence Fixed Telecommunications Service (DFTS) July 1997 July 2012 10 70 
			 Defence Helicopter Flying School (DHFS) December 1996 March 2012 15 73 
			 Defence Housing Executive—Information Systems (DOMIS) October 2001 September 2010 10 12 
			 Defence Intelligence System (DIS)/Information System (Touchstone) June 1999 September 2006 7 5 
			 Defence Sixth Form College (DSFC) June 2003 August 2033 28 20 
			 Devonport Support services ARMADA January 2004 January 2029 25 45 
			 Electronic Messaging System (Armymail) April 1997 April 2007 10 33 
			 Field Electrical Power Supplies (FEPS) July 2002 July 2022 20 74 
			 Hawk Simulator December 1997 December 2015 18 19 
			 Hayes PFI Project—Records Storage and Management September 2003 September 2028 25 11 
			 Hazardous Stores Information System (HSIS) October 1997 October 2007 10 1 
			 Heavy Equipment Transporters (HET) December 2001 December 2021 20 58 
			 Joint Services Command and Staff College June 1998 August 2028 20 93 
			 Light Aircraft Flying Training (LAFT) (Bulldog) April 1999 March 2009 10 20 
			 Lynx Aircrew Training July 2000 July 2025 25 15 
			 Main Building Refurbishment May 2000 May 2030 30 345 
			 Marine support to Range and Aircrew Services December 2001 December 2012 10 12 
			 Material Handling Equipment (MHE) August 2002 July 2010 8 9 
			 Material Handling Equipment (MHE)—(Follow on) May 2002 May 2010 8 12 
			 Medium Support Helicopter Aircrew Training Facility (MSHATF) October 1997 October 2037 40 114 
			 MOD-wide Water and Waste Water Project (Aquatrine)—Package A April 2003 November 2028 25 154 
			 MOD-wide Water and Wastewater (Project Aquatrine)—Package B September 2004 March 2030 25 86 
			 MOD-wide Water and Wastewater (Project Aquatrine)—Package C October 2004 March 2030 25 364 
			 Naval Communications June 2000 January 2030 27 58 
			 NRTA Fire Fighting Training Units April 1999 April 2019 20 23 
			 Portsmouth Housing 2 October 2005 July 2032 25 33 
			 RAF Cosford and Shawbury Family Quarters March 1999 June 2025 25 15 
			 RAF Fylingdales (Power) December 1998 December 2023 25 8 
			 RAF Lossiemouth Family Quarters June 1998 September 2019 20 25 
			 RAF Lyneham Sewerage August 1998 August 2023 25 4 
			 RAF Mail November 1998 November 2008 20 12 
			 RAF Sentry E3D Aircrew July 2000 December 2030 30 7 
			 Skynet 5 October 2003 February 2018 15 1,079 
			 Storage Facilities April 1996 January 2011 15 22 
			 Strategic Sealift (Ro-Ro Ferries) June 2002 December 2024 25 175 
			 TAFMIS (IT) August 1996 August 2007 10 41 
			 Tidworth Water and Sewerage February 1998 August 2018 20 5 
			 Tornado GR4 Simulator June 1999 June 2031 32 62 
			 Tri Service Materials Handling Service June 2000 June 2010 10 35 
			 Tri Service White Fleet January 2001 January 2011 10 40 
			 Wattisham Married Quarters May 2001 March 2028 25 34 
			 Yeovilton Family Quarters July 1998 July 2028 30 8

General Election Expenditure

Graham Allen: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission if the Commission will review the limits on expenditure for candidates in general elections; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Viggers: In its report on "The funding of political parties" published in 2004, the Electoral Commission identified a need to review the balance between party and candidate spending limits at all relevant elections. The Commission will consider how to take forward the recommendations it made when the Government have responded to the report.

Administrative Costs

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the administrative costs were of each agency for which she has responsibility in the last year for which figures are available; what the total of such costs was in that year; and whether the costs are regarded for the purposes of public expenditure statistical analyses as (a) identifiable and (b) non-identifiable.

David Lammy: The Department is responsible for one agency, The Royal Parks. All of the agency's resource expenditure is classed as "other current" costs rather than "administration costs" in the Supply Estimates and the Departmental Resource Accounts. The Royal Parks expenditure figures for 2004–05 can be found in the Royal Parks Annual Report at pages 48–60, a copy of which is available in the House of Parliament Library and from The Royal Parks website, www.royalparks.gov.uk/about/publications. Expenditure is broken down into the following categories:
	
		
			 Gross expenditure £000 
		
		
			 Staff costs 6,456 
			 Depreciation 1,374 
			 Notional charges 1,242 
			   
			 Programme costs  
			 Consultancies 633 
			 Telecommunications 175 
			 Works maintenance 7,574 
			 Grounds maintenance 6,495 
			 Nursery 1,020 
			 Trees 312 
			 Training 63 
			 Vehicle hire 236 
			 Cleaning contracts 922 
			 Entertainments 124 
			 Utilities 563 
			 Service contracts 702 
			 Police service 5,041 
			 Other 1,223 
			 Total 34,155 
		
	
	All of the agency's expenditure is regarded as "identifiable" for country and regional public expenditure statistical analyses.

Anniversary Events

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans her Department has for celebrating anniversaries of major events up to 2010; and if she will make a statement.

David Lammy: The Secretary of State is responsible for organising, on behalf of the Government, the annual Remembrance Day Ceremony at the Cenotaph and David Lammy, Minister for Culture is working closely with the Deputy Prime Minister and Paul Goggins, Minister for Race Equality and external stakeholders to ensure the best support for the forthcoming bicentenary marking the abolition of the slave trade in 2007.
	Many of DCMS's sponsored bodies are planning to celebrate anniversaries of various other major events, including the 200th anniversary of the birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunei in 2007, the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War in 2008 and the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession to the throne in 2009. Any plans by the Department or its sponsored bodies for the celebration of other major anniversaries will be announced closer to the time.

Government Art Collection

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the Government's art collection is catalogued; and if she will make a statement.

David Lammy: The Government Art Collection (GAC) maintains a catalogue and database of the collection in line with the documentation standards of the Museums Accreditation Scheme administered by Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.
	The GAC has a website that includes an on-line catalogue of works in the collection. All original works and impressions of all modern prints in the collection are included; historical prints are currently being added.
	In addition, the GAC has published a range of books about the collection including a summary catalogue of original works from the 20th century (published 1997).
	The GAC and the Public Catalogue Foundation (PCF) are planning a volume of the PCF's ongoing series of catalogues "Oil Paintings in Public Ownership" to include the GAC's holding of paintings.

New Opportunities Fund

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the expenditure of the New Opportunities Fund for physical education and sport was in each year since 2001; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The table shows awards and payments made by the New Opportunities Fund to programmes for physical education and sport for each year since 2001. These figures do not include Awards for All, Activities for Young People and other grants which have funded sport indirectly.
	
		
			   £ 
			  Awards made Payment made 
		
		
			 2001–02 10,596,800 11,400 
			 2002–03 88,622,611 4,801,339 
			 2003–04 202,444,347 31,618,846 
			 2004–05 395,174,057 84,993,116 
			 Year to date 79,292,733 202,244,646

Television Licence Fee

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the level of the colour television licence fee has been in each year since 1996–97.

James Purnell: The level of the colour television licence fee in each year since 1996–97 has been:
	
		
			  £ 
			  Licence Fee 
		
		
			 1996–97 89.50 
			 1997–98 91.50 
			 1998–99 97.50 
			 1999–2000 101.00 
			 2000–01 104.00 
			 2001–02 109.00 
			 2002–03 112.00 
			 2003–04 116.00 
			 2004–05 121.00 
			 2005–06 126.50

Christmas Cards

Greg Hands: To ask the Prime Minister if he will estimate the cost to his Office of sending Christmas cards in 2005.

Tony Blair: Approximately 1,600 cards were purchased for official use at a cost of £325. All expenditure incurred in the purchase and posting of these cards is in accordance with the departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on the principles set out in "Government Accounting".

Torture

David Howarth: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his Oral Answer to the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Mr. Kennedy) of 7 December 2005, Official Report, column 862, whether the definition of torture he uses includes cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Tony Blair: The Government understands the term "torture" to have the meaning set out in Article 1 of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT).

Coventry City Council

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of Coventry City council housing stock has been sold under the right-to-buy scheme in each year since 1980.

Yvette Cooper: The proportion of housing stock owned by Coventry City council, sold through the right-to-buy scheme in each financial year since 1980–81, as reported by Coventry City is tabulated. The table shows the number of right-to-buy sales in each financial year as a percentage of the stock at the beginning of that period. There have been no right-to-buy sales since September 2000 when all remaining local authority stock was transferred to a registered social landlord.
	
		West Lancashire; right-to-buy sales Percentage
		
			  Financial year Proportion of LA stock sold through RTB 
		
		
			 1980–81 0.0 
			 1981–82 1.7 
			 1982–83 2.9 
			 1983–84 1.7 
			 1984–85 1.1 
			 1985–86 1.6 
			 1986–87 1.5 
			 1987–88 2.2 
			 1988–89 4.0 
			 1989–90 3.1 
			 1990–91 1.3 
			 1991–92 0.9 
			 1992–93 0.6 
			 1993–94 0.6 
			 1994–95 0.7 
			 1995–96 0.6 
			 1996–97 0.7 
			 1997–98 1.0 
			 1998–99 0.9 
			 1999–2000 1.5 
			 2000–01 0.5 
		
	
	Source:
	P1AB returns from local authority to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Energy Efficiency

David Chaytor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the relationship between the work of the Interdepartmental Taskforce on the Improvement of Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings and the energy review.

Yvette Cooper: The recommendations of the review of the sustainability of Existing Buildings which, among other issues, is considering measures which could be taken to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings, will be taken into account in the much wider energy review, as stated in the consultation document, "Our Energy Challenge: Securing clean, affordable energy for the long-term", that was issued on 23 January.

Child Care

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what visits abroad Ministers in her Department have made in relation to child care policy since 2001.

Bill Rammell: Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis information relating to Cabinet Ministers' visits overseas costing more than £500. Copies of the published lists for the years 2001 to 31 March 2005 are available in the Libraries of the House. The detailed information you have requested in respect of other Ministers is not collected centrally and to collect it would involve incurring disproportionate cost.
	Ministerial travel is conducted in accordance with the "Ministerial Code" and "Travel by Ministers".

Dedicated Schools Grant

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  on what basis Wirral local education authority was allocated an average dedicated schools grant of £3,514 per pupil;
	(2)  on what basis the average Dedicated Schools Grant was £6,708 per pupil in the City of London.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 26 January 2006
	The calculation of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) in 2006–07 and 2007–08 takes authorities' 2005–06 level of spending as the baseline, rather than their Schools Formula Spending Share (SPSS); it gives all authorities a minimum increase of 5 per cent. per pupil over the baseline in each of the next two years; and then distributes the remaining grant to reflect the Government's key priorities for education.
	The Wirral's baseline spending in 2005–06 was £3,279 per pupil, which reflects its spending of 2 per cent. below SPSS. Given the 5 per cent. per pupil increase, in 2006–07 Wirral is receiving an additional £2.78 million to reflect the Government's key priorities for education, plus an additional £0.687 to help move its per pupil funding towards the level indicated by the funding formula. Its average guaranteed unit of funding in 2006–07 is therefore £3,514 per pupil. That gives the Wirral an indicative allocation of DSG in 2006–07 of £171.6 million.
	In the City of London's case, its baseline spending in 2005–06 was £6,286 per pupil which reflects its spending of more than 75 per cent. in excess of SPSS in 2005- 06. Given the 5 per cent. per pupil increase, plus an additional £27,000 to reflect the Government's key priorities for education, the City of London's average guaranteed unit of funding in 2006–07 is £6,708 per pupil. Its indicative allocation of DSG in 2006–07 is £1.7 million. Given that the City of London only has about 250 pupils, it is not possible to make meaningful comparisons between its unit costs and those of other authorities.

Failing Schools

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the 242 schools deemed at the start of January to be failing, which are referred to on page 15 of the White Paper, "Higher Standards, Better Schools for All".

Jacqui Smith: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.

Fire Sprinklers

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many responses to the consultation on 'Building Bulletin 100—Designing and Managing Against the Risk of Fires in Schools' were in favour (a) of the proposals in respect of the fitting of fire sprinklers in school buildings and (b) of strengthening the proposals.

Jacqui Smith: The first question in the consultation on Building Bulletin 100 asked whether respondents agreed with the proposal that risk assessment should be used as the basis for designers to make their choices, rather than following a purely prescriptive approach that may preclude many of those choices. There were a further 11 questions, of which two concerned sprinkler installations:
	"Do you agree with the proposal that sprinkler systems should be installed if indicated by the risk assessment?"
	"Do you agree that the guidance on sprinklers is adequate?"
	The analysis of the responses is not yet complete, but should be finalised before the end of March.

Grouping/Setting

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in how many subjects she envisages more grouping and setting referred to on page 10 of the White Paper, "Higher Standards, Better Schools for All".

Jacqui Smith: It is for schools to use their own professional judgment to decide which subjects to group or set pupils by ability. We will continue through the National Strategies and our Gifted and Talented programme to offer advice and guidance to schools on classroom practice so that they can make decisions about how to use pupil setting as part of their overall commitment to personalising and tailoring learning to meet the needs of all their pupils.

Learning and Skills Councils (London)

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total budget of London's learning and skills councils was in each year since 2001; and how much was spent on (a) school sixth forms, (b) the further education sector, (c) work-based training for young people, (d) workforce development, (e) adult and community learning, (f) information and advice for adults, (g) education-business links and (h) administrative costs in each year.

Bill Rammell: I have overall responsibility for the LSC; however the operations of the LSC are managed and overseen by Mark Haysom, the LSC's chief executive. The Grant Letter and Priorities for Success sets the LSC budget for the year including a breakdown of school sixth forms, further education, work-based learning, and PCDL (ACL). Allocations within these overall categories to regional and local levels are a matter for the LSC. Mark Haysom will write to the hon. Gentleman with further information and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.
	The following table shows the total spend by the Greater London Region between 2001–02 and 2004–05 taken from the LSC's published accounts. Note that the LSC did not have responsibility for the funding of school sixth forms in 2001–02.
	
		
			   £000 
			  Greater London programme expenditure Total programme expenditure 
		
		
			 2001–02 843,690 5,133,291 
			 2002–03 1,226,159 7,356,739 
			 2003–04 1,446,923 8,569,725 
			 2004–05 1,512,792 9,011,547

National Complaints Service

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the proposed powers of the National Complaints Service from Ofsted referred to on page 9 of the White Paper, "Higher Standards, Better Schools for All".

Jacqui Smith: Subject to the passage of legislation, we intend to give Ofsted the power to investigate complaints by parents about matters which fall within Ofsted's inspection remit. Ofsted will consider complaints which concern the work of a school as a whole, rather than individual pupils or staff, and will expect parents to have previously sought resolution at a local level. In pursuance of an investigation, the school and the local authority may be required to provide information to Ofsted, and the school may be required to arrange a meeting between parents and inspectors. Ofsted will determine, in the light of its investigation, whether further action is necessary. This may include bringing forward a scheduled school inspection or carrying out an inspection without notice.

National Remodelling Team

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the work of the National Remodelling Team.

Jacqui Smith: The National Remodelling Team (NRT), part of the Training and Development Agency for Schools (IDA), works with my Department and the Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group (WAMG) to support schools in implementing the provisions of the National Agreement on Raising Standards and Tackling Workload that was signed in January 2003 by the Government, employers and the majority of school work force unions.
	The NRT has also been supporting the pilots of the extended schools programme and is now supporting the national roll-out.

National Training Programme

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how the national training programme, referred to on page 10 of the White Paper, "Higher Standards, Better Schools for All", will be funded.

Jacqui Smith: Through our existing National Strategies Programme, we will be delivering a national training programme free of charge to schools, to train leading professionals to help develop personalised learning in schools.
	In addition, we will be investing £565 million by 2007–08 to support personalisation in primary and secondary schools and a further £60 million in each of the next two years to provide effective one-to-one and small group tuition for the lowest attaining pupils in targeted schools.

New School Providers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills who will be authorised to approve or reject the establishment of new schools as proposed in the White Paper, "Higher Standards, Better Schools for All".

Jacqui Smith: We propose that the decision-maker for proposals for new schools should normally be the local authority in its modernised role as the commissioner, rather than direct provider, of education. There will however be a range of circumstances in which proposals may be referred to schools adjudicator for decision.

Post-16 Education

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what the (a) further and (b) higher education participation rate was in each ward in each local authority area, broken down by region, for the last year for which figures are available:
	(2)  what the staying-on rates were for 16-year-olds in full-time education in each local authority area in 2005.

Bill Rammell: Participation rates, as a percentage of the local population are not available at ward level. Participation rates for those aged 16 and 17, in schools, FE colleges, LSC funded work-based learning and part-time education are available for local education authorities (LEAs) in England. The latest available figures are for 2003 and these were published in the Statistical First Release "Participation in education and training by 16 and 17-year-olds in each local area in England"—SFR11/2005 on 31 March 2005.
	The publication is accessible on the DfES website via the link, http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000568/index.shtml.
	LEA detail is available through the link: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000568/SFR11– 2005tables_lea.xls.
	Participation rates for young people in higher education are available for LEAs and for parliamentary constituencies in England, Wales and Scotland. The latest available figures are for 2000 and were released alongside the report "Young Participation in Higher Education" by HEFCE in January 2005.
	The publication is accessible on the HEFCE website via the link, http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_03/.
	LEA detail is available through the link, http://www.hefce.ac.uk/widen/polar/extra/lea/.

School Staff (Checks)

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how long foreign nationals may work as teachers in a school before having to register with the General Teaching Council.

Jacqui Smith: Overseas trained teachers can teach in England for up to four years without Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). If they wish to continue to work in maintained schools for longer than four years they must gain QTS via the appropriate IDA approved route and register with the General Teaching Council (GTC).
	Directive 89/48EEC facilitates the free movement of any national of an EEA member state (MS) wishing to pursue a regulated profession in a host MS. Therefore a migrant teacher with the relevant qualification is given automatic recognition under the directive and they are awarded Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) following an application to the GTC. Again, once they have gained QTS they will have to register with the GTC to teach in a maintained school.

School Transport

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will ask the Children's Commissioner to undertake a review of local authority tendering processes for school transport to ensure vulnerable children are protected.

Jacqui Smith: The Department for Education and Skills advises that employers should carry out criminal record checks on anyone working with children, and is actively considering whether more guidance is needed in relation to child protection and school transport. At the moment, we have no plans to involve the Children's Commissioner.
	The Children's Commissioner is independent of Government and free to look at any issue he considers relevant in promoting awareness of the views and interests of children. If the Secretary of State asks the Children's Commissioner to look at a particular matter, unless it is involves holding an enquiry into the case of an individual child, he is free to decline.

Skills for Life

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much the Government have allocated to the Skills for Life campaign in each year since its inception; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Hope: I refer the hon. Member to table 13 of the NAO's report "Skills for Life: Improving adult literacy and numeracy", 15 December 2004, which sets out estimated actual spend on Skills for Life from 2000–01. Copies of this report have been placed in the House Libraries. Confirmed spend for 2004/05 is not yet available.

Sure Start

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total Sure Start budget was in each year since its inception; and what the projected budget is in each of the next three years.

Beverley Hughes: Details of actual and planned expenditure on Sure Start, child care and nursery education from 1999–2000 to 2007–08 are published in Table 12.2 of the Department for Education and Skills' Departmental Report (Cm 6522). To reflect the increasing integration of services for young children and families, from 2003–04 funding for child care and nursery education was merged into Sure Start:
	
		
			 £ million 
			 Financial year Sure start Child care Nursery education Total 
		
		
			 1999–00 7 56 150 213 
			 2000–01 56 65 247 368 
			 2001–02 134 109 224 467 
			 2002–03 216 158 306 680 
			 2003–04 721 721 
			 2004–05(21) 927 927 
			 2005–06 1,140 1,140 
			 2006–07 1,696 1,696 
			 2007–08 1,809 1,809 
		
	
	(21) Outturn in DfES Resource Accounts 2004–05 (HC 686)

Teachers

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teaching posts were vacant in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Milton Keynes in each year since 1997; and what the average vacancy rate for local education authorities in England was in each year.

Jacqui Smith: The following table provides the number of full-time teacher vacancies in maintained nursery, primary, and secondary schools in Milton Keynes local authority and vacancy rates for Milton Keynes and England in each January since 1997.
	Milton Keynes local authority was created from within the former Buckinghamshire local authority on 1 April 1997. Therefore, no figures are available for January 1997.
	
		Full-time teacher vacancy numbers(22) and rates(23) in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools in Milton Keynes and England, January 1997 to 2005.
		
			  Milton Keynes England 
			  Nursery/Primary Secondary Nursery/Primary Secondary 
			  Vacancy numbers Vacancy rates (Percentage) Vacancy numbers Vacancy rates (Percentage) Vacancy Vacancy rates (Percentage) 
		
		
			 1997 — — — — 0.6 0.4 
			 1998 5 0.6 0 0.0 0.8 0.6 
			 1999 8 0.9 2 0.3 0.8 0.5 
			 2000 6 0.7 1 0.1 0.8 0.7 
			 2001 11 1.3 8 1.2 1.2 1.4 
			 2002 9 1.0 2 0.3 1.0 1.3 
			 2003 9 1.0 2 0.3 0.6 1.1 
			 2004 7 0.7 9 1.2 0.5 0.9 
			 2005 8 0.8 13 1.7 0.4 0.8 
		
	
	(22) Advertised vacancies for full-time permanent appointments (or appointments of at least one term's duration). Includes vacancies being filled on a temporary basis of less than one term.
	(23) Vacancies as a percentage of teachers in post i.e. full-time regular teachers in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools, plus full-time regular divided service, peripatetic, advisory and miscellaneous teachers.
	Source:
	DfES annual survey of teachers in service and teacher vacancies, (618G).

Departmental Research

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research projects commissioned by his Department are being undertaken; and what the publication arrangements are in each case.

Alan Johnson: A trawl of DTI Directorates and its Agencies has identified some 50 research projects. These are being collated into a table and I will write to the hon. Member with the details very shortly and place copies on my letter in the Libraries of the House. Published reports are listed on the Department's website http://www.dti. gov.uk/publications/.

Energy Imports

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much (a) coal and (b) gas was imported during the last year for which figures are available, broken down by country of origin.

Malcolm Wicks: Imports of coal and other solid fuels by country of origin during 2004 are shown in the table. In the same year 95,363GWh of gas were imported from Norway and 37,670GWh were imported via the Zeebrugge to Bacton interconnector. It is not possible to identify where gas imported through the interconnector was physically sourced.
	
		Imports of coal and solid fuel by country of origin 2004 Thousand tonnes
		
			 2004 Steam coal Coking coal Anthracite Other solid fuel 
		
		
			 European Union 
			 Belgium/Luxembourg 6 — 5 18 
			 Denmark — — — 1 
			 Estonia — — 22 — 
			 France 32 — 18 8 
			 Germany 8 — 5 49 
			 Irish Republic 34 — 6 8 
			 Italy — — — 37 
			 Latvia — — 11 5 
			 Netherlands 183 — 10 38 
			 Poland 1,205 — 3 18 
			 Portugal 8 — — — 
			 Spain 24 — — — 
			 Sweden — — — 19 
			 Total European Union 1,500 — 80 199 
			 Australia 2,035 4,140 — 25 
			 Canada 25 715 — 18 
			 Colombia 3,630 — — 53 
			 Indonesia 1,458 — — — 
			 Norway 138 — — 2 
			 People's Republic of China 190 — 43 432 
			 Republic of South Africa 10,105 — 39 — 
			 Russia 9,776 148 8 142 
			 United States of America 717 1,342 2 — 
			 Venezuela 39 — — — 
			 Vietnam — — 23 — 
			 Other countries — — — 179 
			 Total all countries 29,614 6,345 194 1,051

Wave Power

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding his Department allocated for (a) demonstration and (b) pre-commercial trials of wave power in the UK in each of the last five years.

Malcolm Wicks: During the five-year period between January 2000 and the present approximately £9.95 million has been committed to a total of 27 wave energy R&D projects concerning all stages of technology development from initial proof of concept to full scale demonstration. This is broken down by year as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 Year in which project started Total funding endorsed 
		
		
			 2000 3,061,108 
			 2001 1,289,987 
			 2002 1,968,591 
			 2003 2,934,822 
			 2004 44,780 
			 2005 659,271 
		
	
	A further £50 million 'Marine Renewables Deployment Fund' has been allocated to support the continued development of wave and tidal-stream technologies of which £42 million is for direct support to early-stage pre-commercial trials.

Airspace (Extraordinary Renditions)

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what account he has taken of the UK's obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights when (a) considering requests for the rendition of terrorist suspects through UK airspace and (b) making reference to the US Secretary of State's statement on the legality of such renditions.

Kim Howells: I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's written answer to the right hon. Member for North East Fife (Sir Menzies Campbell) on 12 December 2005, Official Report, column 1643W.
	In her statement on 5 December 2005, the US Secretary of State said,
	"in conducting such renditions, it is the policy of the United States . . . to comply with its laws and comply with its treaty obligations, including those under the Convention Against Torture".
	The United States is not bound by the European Convention on Human Rights, to which it is not a party.

Chad

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he had with the African Union on helping to expedite the return of the former Chadian leader Hissène Habré to stand trial.

Ian Pearson: There have been no discussions between the Government and the African Union (AU) regarding Hissène Habré. The AU discussed the extradition request for Mr. Habré, submitted by the Belgian authorities to Senegal, at their summit of 16–24 January. The summit agreed to set up a committee of eminent African jurists to consider the case. The European Union has called on the AU to ensure that any decision is in line with the fight against impunity and that the crimes of which Mr. Habré is accused will be judged by a court.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 13 June 2006, Official Report, column 137W, on Iraq, what progress has been made with his inquiries with the United States Administration.

Kim Howells: holding answer14 November 2005
	I apologise for the delay in providing a substantive answer to the hon. Member's questions on this matter. This is because the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), to whom the Special Rapporteur's letter was addressed, was dissolved at the end of June 2004. An additional difficulty is that the incident to which it refers is alleged to have happened in February 2004, when there was a great deal of militia activity of this type in Iraq. We are working with the United States Government, via whom the letter was passed to the CPA, to ascertain whether they have any record of what happened to the letter and what action was taken on it. They are still researching the archives.
	Given the delay in providing a substantive reply, we will continue to pursue with the US authorities and, exceptionally, I will write to the hon. Member when we have more information, and will place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Healthier Lifestyles

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to promote a healthier lifestyle among people aged 40 and over in Northern Ireland.

Shaun Woodward: The Investing for Health Strategy provides a framework within which the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has developed population strategies and programmes on issues such as, physical activity, smoking and food and nutrition, to promote healthier lifestyles, including to those aged 40 and over.
	Public information campaigns developed by the Health Promotion Agency on smoking have been targeted at adult smokers aged 30+ and the "Get a Life—Get Active" campaign has aimed, in particular, to encourage 40 to 60-year-olds to undertake regular physical activity. The "Eating Well in Winter" grants programme and "A Guide to Healthier Eating for the over 60s" were both recently launched by the Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland to encourage and support older people to eat more healthily.

Office Equipment

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) personal computers, (b) laptops, (c) servers, (d) printers, (e) scanners, (f) photocopiers and (g) fax machines (i) his Department, (ii) each (A) non-departmental public body, (B) executive agency and (C) other public body for which his Department is responsible in (1) each English region and (2) Northern Ireland owned in (x) 2003–04 and (y) 2004–05.

Peter Hain: Information from Department records indicate that number of personal computers, laptops, servers, printers and scanners are as shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Number 
			  Personal computers Laptops Servers Printers Scanners 
			  NI London NI London NI London NI London NI London 
		
		
			 2003–04   
			 NIO core 650 120 36 — 105 12 278 12 2 0 
			 Executive agencies(27) 900 — 36 — 50 — 316 — 2 0 
			
			 2004–05   
			 NIO core 678 132 57 — 75 7 318 45 29 3 
			 Executive agencies(27) 987 0 60 0 46 0 334 0 20 0 
		
	
	(27) The Northern Ireland Office's four Executive agencies are the Compensation Agency for Northern Ireland, Forensic Science for Northern Ireland, The Northern Ireland Prison Service and the Youth Justice Agency. It is not possible to isolate the number of pieces of equipment each agency owned except at disproportionate cost.
	Photocopiers are leased and not owned. Information on small items such as fax machines is not held centrally and could not be provided except at disproportionate cost.
	Information in respect of each non-departmental public body could not be provided except at disproportionate cost.

Transport Links

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans are in place to improve transport links (a) between Northern Ireland and Great Britain and (b) within Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: Air and sea links between NI and GB are market driven and are generally satisfactory. Consequently, the only area Government is currently seeking to improve, through the Scottish Executive and the Northern Ireland administration, is the Ballycastle/Campbeltown ferry service.
	The Regional Transportation Strategy 2002–12 for Northern Ireland is the basis upon which all land based transportation initiatives are now taken forward. This is supported by three transport plans, which contain the detailed programmes of major schemes, and transport initiatives that the Department for Regional Development wants to carry out to achieve the Northern Ireland's transportation objectives. Transport plans for the Belfast Metropolitan Area and the Regional Strategic Transport Network were published last year and are available from the Commons Library. The third "sub regional" transport plan that covers the other urban areas and the rural area not covered by the previous two plans will be published later this year.

Employment (Denbighshire)

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) private sector jobs in (i) agriculture, (ii) manufacturing and (iii) the service sector and (b) public sector jobs there were in (A) Vale of Clwyd constituency and (B) Denbighshire in each of the last 20 years.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 30 January 2006
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about private and public sector employment. I am replying in her absence. (46078)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics for the United Kingdom of public sector employment from a quarterly survey of public sector organisations. However, estimates at local area level are not available.
	Information at local area level is available from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) of individual people in households. However, in this source the categorisation of employment in the public or private sector depends upon the responses from the individuals interviewed. As reported by ONS in October 2005 in the publication "Public Sector Employment Trends", some individuals tend to misreport private sector employment as being in the public sector hence leading to overestimates of the share of public sector employment.
	With this reservation about the data quality, Table 1 shows the number of persons in private sector employment, by the specified splits, and for the public sector for people resident in the Denbighshire Unitary Authority as shown by the annual local area LFS for the 12 month periods ending February 1999 to February 2004. Table 2 shows similar data for persons resident in the Vale of Clwyd Parliamentary Constituency. Data for earlier years are not available.
	These estimates, as with any from sample surveys, are subject to a margin of uncertainty. Changes in the estimates from year to year should be treated with particular caution.
	
		Table 1: Persons in employment resident in the Vale of Clwyd Parliamentary Constituency by private-public sector split(28)  Thousand
		
			  Private Sector 
			 12 months ending Agriculture Manufacturing Services Other industries(29) Public Sector Total 
		
		
			 February 1999 1 3 10 5 6 25 
			 February 2000 1 4 10 4 8 27 
			 February 2001 1 3 13 4 8 29 
			 February 2002 1 4 13 3 8 28 
			 February 2003 — 4 12 3 9 27 
			 February 2004 — 3 13 3 9 29 
		
	
	(28) Public/private sector split based on responses from individuals responding to the annual local area Labour Force Survey—generally overestimate public sector employment.
	(29) Other industries are Agriculture, Fishing, Energy and Water and Construction.
	Note:
	Estimates are subject to sampling variability. Changes from year to year should be treated with particular caution.
	Source:
	Annual local area Labour Force Survey.
	
		Table 2: Persons in employment resident in the Denbighshire Unitary Authority by private-public sector split(30) Thousand
		
			  Private Sector 
			 12 months ending Agriculture Manufacturing Services Other industries(31) Public Sector Total 
		
		
			 February 1999 3 4 15 8 8 38 
			 February 2000 3 6 13 5 10 37 
			 February 2001 4 6 16 5 12 43 
			 February 2002 2 7 18 4 11 41 
			 February 2003 1 6 18 4 12 40 
			 February 2004 1 5 19 5 13 42 
		
	
	(30) Public/private sector split based on responses from individuals responding to the annual local area Labour Force Survey generally overestimate public sector employment.
	(31) Other industries are Agriculture, Fishing, Energy and Water and Construction.
	Note:
	Estimates are subject to sampling variability. Changes from year to year should be treated with particular caution.
	Source:
	Annual local area Labour Force Survey.

Film Industry

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2006, Official Report, column 1495W, on the film industry, if he will give details of the specific tax reliefs available for film production in each year since 1997; and what the cost of those reliefs was in each year.

Dawn Primarolo: Details of the specific tax reliefs for film production can be found in Chapter 3 of the Treasury consultation document "Reform of film tax incentives: Promoting the sustainable production of culturally British films" (July 2005).
	Regarding the costs of these reliefs, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 13 December 2005, Official Report, column 1823W.

Tax Credit

Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit claimants appealed (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully to (i) the Adjudicator, (ii) the parliamentary ombudsman and (iii) by judicial review an unsuccessful appeal through the HM Revenue and Customs complaints procedure against a decision to change the amount paid in each year for which figures are available, broken down by (A) type of tax credit and (B) region.

Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) tax credits appeals procedure is explained in its leaflet WTC/AP "How to appeal against a tax credits decision or award". The Department's complaints procedure is explained in its Code of Practice 1 "Putting things right—How to complain". The Adjudicator's leaflet AO1 also explains that her office does not look at matters which can be considered on appeal or complaints that have been, or are being, investigated by the ombudsman.
	(i) The Adjudicator cannot become involved in appeals against tax credits decisions. For the number of tax credits referrals to the Adjudicator's Office, I refer the hon. Member to the Adjudicator's Office Annual Report for 2005.
	(ii) The parliamentary ombudsman, Ann Abraham, is an independent office-holder. She operates under the provisions of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 (as amended). The parliamentary ombudsman publishes information about the number of investigate complaints she has received in her annual report to Parliament. Her 2004–05 Annual Report, HC 348, was published on 20 July.
	(iii) An appeal is a separate matter to a judicial review as described in HMRC guidance available at www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/immanual/im5201.htm
	Three tax credit claimants have issued proceedings in the Administrative Court. All had been in, but had not exhausted, HMRC's complaints process before issuing proceedings. One was settled by consent, one was withdrawn and one was settled in part and the remainder withdrawn.

Child Contact Arrangements

Margaret Moran: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if the Government will seek to legislate to require the family courts to be satisfied that contact arrangements will be safe for children.

Harriet Harman: The Government are committed to supporting positive contact arrangements following parental separation where it is in the best interests of, and is safe for, the child.
	Under the Children Act 1989, when making any decision pertinent to a child's upbringing, his or her welfare must be the court's paramount consideration.
	Furthermore, with the introduction in January 2005 of "Gateway" forms, it is now easier for those suffering from domestic violence to bring it to the courts' attention at the start of contact and residence proceedings.
	The courts are required by the Children Act to consider any harm that a child may suffer before making a contact order. The definition of "harm" was expressly clarified by Section 120 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, commenced 31 January 2005, to include harm caused to a child by seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another person.
	In addition, the Children and Adoption Bill, currently before this House, would place a duty on CAFCASS to conduct a risk assessment in any private law proceedings where they are involved. This duty applies not only in cases where issues of harm are raised, but also in cases where the CAFCASS officer suspects that harm may be an issue. The CAFCASS officer is required to inform the court of the results of the risk assessment. That Bill would also allow courts to direct parties in contact proceedings to attend a domestic violence perpetrator programme to address violent behaviour.
	These measures, taken together, will ensure that the family courts are in a position to make decisions on what contact arrangements may be safe, based on all the facts, as early as possible in the proceedings.

Judges (Part-time)

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will list the part-time judges who sit for 20 days a year; and what factors she took into account when deciding not to update previously published lists of part-time judges.

Harriet Harman: There are approximately 6,700 fee-paid judicial potholders. It is the Lord Chancellor's policy that fee-paid judicial post holders, in the majority of jurisdictions, are offered and expected to complete a minimum of 15 sitting days a year provided that the work is available. The number of sitting days completed by each fee-paid judicial office holder is managed and recorded locally (within the circuits/regions or by the tribunal/judicial heads). There is no central record. Since its creation in 2003, my Department has not published a comprehensive list of fee-paid judges.

Brain Tumours (Treatment)

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken by her Department to improve the survival rates for people with brain tumours.

Rosie Winterton: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is currently developing guidance on "Improving outcomes in brain and other central nervous system tumours".
	This guidance, in conjunction with the significant improvements to cancer services resulting from the national health service cancer plan—such as improved waiting times, more cancer specialists, and more equipment to diagnose and treat cancers—will ensure that survival rates for brain tumour patients improve.

Child Protection

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effect of forthcoming primary care trust mergers on the number of designated professionals who safeguard children (a) locally and (b) in England; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Strategic health authorities (SHAs) are making proposals about reconfiguration of primary care trusts (PCTs) in their areas. Regardless of the configuration, each SHA, PCT, NHS trust or NHS foundation trust will be required to link up with the local authority or authorities that cover the same areas in order to set up a local safeguarding children's board (LSCB) by April 2006. The guidance on safeguarding children, "Working Together to Safeguard Children" makes it clear that each LSCB must have access to appropriate expertise and advice.

Departmental Research

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research projects commissioned by her Department are being undertaken; and what the publication arrangements are in each case.

Jane Kennedy: The Department funds research that provides a knowledge base for health and social care policy and, separately, to provide the evidence needed to underpin quality improvement and service development in the national health service. Details of the projects currently forming part of the Department's national research programmes 1 can be found on the National Research Register at www.dh.gov.uk/research.
	National programme project findings are placed on the Research Findings Electronic Register (ReFeR) database that can similarly be found on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/research. The researchers concerned are also responsible in each case for publishing the results of the research they undertake. Some national programme co-ordinating centres have freestanding websites and use them separately to disseminate outputs from their programmes.
	Details of other research commissioned by the Department are shown in the table.
	1 Policy Research, Health Technology Assessment, New and Emerging Applications of Technology, Service Delivery Organisation, Genetics, Forensic Mental Health, Patient Safety, Dental.
	
		
			 Project title Means of publication 
		
		
			 National prevalence survey of healthcare associated infections in acute hospitals in peer reviewed journal 
			 Development of a National Strategy for Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance in Primary Care in peer reviewed journal 
			 Bacteraemia in children caused by methicillin-resistant "Staphylococcus aureus" (MRSA) in peer reviewed journal 
			 National confidential study of deaths associated with healthcare associated infection in peer reviewed journal 
			 Development of an assessment tool to measure the elements of the in-patient environment associated with the quality of patient care on the Estates and Facilities research and development programme page of the Department's website 
			 What is the size and nature of the current need for single room isolation in hospital, and how does success or failure to isolate patients affect the control of methicillin-resistant "Staphylococcus aureus" (MRSA) on the Estates and Facilities page of the Department's website 
			 An evidence based model for establishing the performance of hospital ventilation systems on the Estates and Facilities page of the Department's website 
			 The effects of the interior environmental design on patients and staff in maternity facilities on the Estates and Facilities page of the Department's website 
			 Empirical review of NHS Estates ergonomic drawings on the Estates and Facilities page of the Department's website 
			 Evaluation of genetics service development projects on the Department's website 
			 Public perceptions and patient experience of the NHS: six-monthly survey on the Department's website and MORI website six months after receipt in the Department 
			 Public satisfaction with NHS, expectations and biggest problems: monthly survey on the Department's website and MORI website six months after receipt (six month trends) 
			 Public plain English workshops: quarterly focus groups on the Department's website six months after receipt (summary report) 
			 DH stakeholder survey: six-monthly mini-surveys executive summary sent to key stakeholders; full report published on the Department's website no more than six months after receipt 
			 National media evaluation: monthly reports on the Department's website six months after receipt (summary report of coverage) 
			 Regional media evaluation: monthly reports on the Department's website six months after receipt (summary report of coverage)

Emergency Re-admissions

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to question 29552, on emergency re-admissions, if she will provide the figures for quarter 4 of 2004–05 and quarter 1 of 2005–06.

Liam Byrne: Total figures by quarter (but not by age) are published in the "Chief Executive's Report to the NHS, Statistical Supplement-December 2005". The statistical supplement is available at www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/12/43/03/04124303.pdf.
	More detailed and more specific figures by appropriate age band will be published on the National Centre for Health Outcomes Development's (NCHOD) website www.nchod.nhs.uk in early 2006, though they will not cover the precise age bands as provided in the reply I gave on 17 October 2005, Official Report, column 762W.
	There may be small differences between the various sources due to differences in coverage and definition.

Genetic Testing

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps she is taking to build capacity for genetic testing services in the NHS;
	(2)  what funding she has made available for expanding genetic testing services since 1997, broken down by area of expenditure.

Jane Kennedy: Genetic testing is one component of specialised medical genetics services. These are commissioned by specialised commissioning groups, funded by their constituent primary care trusts (PCTs) from PCTs' normal allocations to provide services for their local populations.
	The Government have undertaken a number of initiatives since 2001 to strengthen genetic services. In 2002, nearly £11 million was awarded over up to three years across England to provide new laboratory equipment and pump-prime new substantive posts in both clinical and laboratory services. Over 40 clinical scientist and technical posts were funded.
	The genetics White Paper, "Our Inheritance, Our Future—Realising the potential of genetics in the NHS" in June 2003 built further on this investment. Up to £3.5 million is being made available for a programme to increase the laboratory workforce. This will fund up to 90 new laboratory scientist trainees and the equivalent of 10 full time trainer posts. We have also invested £1.5 million so far in a scheme to train 50 new genetics counsellors over a period of five years.
	The White Paper committed to £18 million to expand and modernise National health service genetic laboratory capacity. This investment, made during 2004–05 and 2005–06, will support genetics laboratories in delivering the genetics White Paper standards for making test results available more quickly.
	We have also invested over 4 million to date on several initiatives, including two national genetics reference laboratories and staffing support for the UK Genetic Testing Network, that help laboratories make best use of their capacity.

Good Hope Hospital

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the out-turn against budget at Good Hope Hospital Trust has been in each month of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 24 January 2006
	The information is not available in the format requested. The table shows the annual turnover and out-turn for Good Hope Hospital National Health Service Trust in each of the last five years.
	
		
			   £000 
			  Turnover Surplus/deficit 
		
		
			 2000–01 71,544 48 
			 2001–02 82,551 53 
			 2002–03 89,050 -839 
			 2003–04 93,715 -5,014 
			 2004–05 106,570 -3,576 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. 'Turnover' is the sum of 'income from activities', and 'other operating income'.
	2. 'Surplus/deficit' figures relate to the 'retained surplus/deficit for the year' of the trust, in each case.
	Source:
	Audited summarisation schedules of the Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust.

Medicine Use Reviews

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps were taken by (a) her Department and (b) the NHS to make the public aware of the availability of medicine use reviews (i) before and (ii) after their introduction; and how much was spent by each for such purposes;
	(2)  what estimate her Department made of the number of medicine use reviews that would be conducted in the first (a) six and (b) 12 months of the scheme;
	(3)  how many medicine use reviews have been conducted in each quarter since the scheme commenced;
	(4)  how much her Department allocated to medicine use reviews in (a) their first and (b) each subsequent year of operation.

Jane Kennedy: Medicines use review (MURs) is an advanced service within the new community pharmacy contractual framework, which went live from 1 April 2005. Community pharmacists can chose whether or not they undertake MURs, but must meet accreditation requirements if they do. £39 million has been allocated for this service in 2005–06. Each pharmacy contractor can undertake up to a maximum of 250 MURs, if they meet the requirements before 1 January 2006, or 200 MURs, if they meet the requirements from 1 January 2006, in the first year.
	The number of MURs conducted monthly since the scheme commenced are shown in the table.
	
		
			 As at 2005:  
		
		
			 April 373 
			 May 718 
			 June 870 
			 July 1,688 
			 August 2,241 
			 September 5,037 
			 October 8,696 
			 November (49)13,646 
		
	
	(49) The figure for November 2005 is provisional and subject to revision.
	In the first six months, community pharmacies would have been focusing on meeting the requirements of the essential services, which had to be met by the end of the transition period on 1 October 2005.
	The communication strategy for the new community pharmacy contractual framework, developed by the Department, Pharmaceutical Negotiating Committee and NHS Employers, provides for timely dissemination of information and messages at a number of stages by all parties to the strategy. It is important that the public is made aware of the new services at the point they become widely available.
	The Department has to date committed £58,450 for printing and distribution of a booklet entitled "Medicines Use Review: Understand Your Medicines" prepared by Medicines Partnership. This booklet is aimed at patients to help them get the most from their MUR. All pharmacies in England were sent copies of the booklet just before Christmas, with a covering letter giving details of the Department's publications orderline at 08701 555 455 to call for further supplies. In addition, the booklet is posted on the Medicines Partnership's website and can be downloaded or viewed, as required www.medicines-partnership.org.

Medicines Management

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if she will publish the results of the Hospitals Medicines Management Framework Self-Assessment; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  if she will list the statistical information collected by her Department relating to medicines management in hospitals; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  how many hospitals have self-medication systems in place; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: As part of the Department's commitment to reducing administrative burdens on the national health service, statistical information relating to medicines management in hospitals is not collected routinely. However, in 2003 NHS trusts were invited to self-assess their medicines management performance against developmental good practice standards contained in the Department's medicines management framework. Responses were considered by strategic health authorities (SHAs) and, where appropriate, action plans to address areas of weakness would be developed and implemented by the individual trusts. The information collected by SHAs suggested that by the end of 2004 some 67 per cent. of respondents expected to have systems in place to utilise patients' own drugs and enable self-administration, where appropriate. The Department does not hold results centrally for the medicines management framework. In line with "Shifting the Balance of Power", SHAs performance manage this process.
	Further information about medicines management in hospitals is expected to be available in summer 2006 when the Healthcare Commission publishes findings from its acute hospital portfolio medicines management review.

Mental Health

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what social and cultural factors she has identified as having (a) an impact on and (b) a correlation with the incidence of mental illnesses; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Department did not directly assess the social and cultural factors that may have an impact on and a correlation with the incidence of mental illnesses. However, the Office for National Statistics' (ONS's) report "Psychiatric Morbidity among Adults Living in Private Households, 2000" shows the associations between the presence of mental disorders and key socio-demographic and economic characteristics for those with different types of mental disorder. This report is available on ONS's website at www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/psychmorb.pdf.
	"Ethnic Minority Psychiatric Illness Rates in the Community" published by the National Centre for Social Research and the Royal Free and University College Medical School, explores the prevalence of mental disorders by demographic and socio-economic factors for the main ethnic minority groups in England. This report is available at www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/02/40/34/04024034.pdf.
	The Social Exclusion Unit report, "Mental Health and Social Exclusion", published by the Department in 2004, also identifies a range of factors that can affect the prevalence of mental health problems in the general population. This report is available at www.socialexclusion.gov.uk/page.asp?id=257.

Palliative Care (Funding)

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of funding for the adequacy of funding of palliative care in the Eastern Region of England.

Rosie Winterton: There are five cancer networks in the East of England and each of the five cancer networks, with their constituent primary care trusts (PCTs), has set out a three-year investment strategy informed by a population needs assessment to identify the specialist palliative care requirement of their resident population. Against this assessment they have invested their allocation from the additional £50 million per annum for specialist palliative care which is now in PCT baselines. Having assessed their local priorities, PCTs can invest more.

Patient Safety

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements are in place for the (a) monitoring and (b) improvement of the safety of NHS patients who receive treatment from other healthcare providers.

Jane Kennedy: Health care provided for national health service patients by establishments outside the NHS is covered by the provisions of the Care Standards Act 2000 and the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003.
	Those private healthcare establishments, including independent hospitals or clinics, or medical agencies providing services to NHS patients, that are subject to registration with, and inspection by, the Healthcare Commission under the Care Standards Act are required to comply with the Private and Voluntary Healthcare (England) Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards (NMS) for Independent Health Care published in 2002.
	Within this framework, the Healthcare Commission uses three essential suitability criteria to determine whether persons, organisations and services are suitable to operate:
	fitness of premises—that premises are fit for the purpose of the service;
	fitness of persons—that the persons running and managing the service, any person nominated as the responsible individual on behalf of an organisation, and any staff or other persons working for the service are fit to do so; and
	fitness of services and facilities—that the treatment, services and facilities (including policies and procedures) meet the requirements of the Private and Voluntary Healthcare Regulations, are suitable and safe and meet the needs of the service users as interpreted through the NMS for the service concerned.
	The registration process has been designed to assess each application against these criteria. The process includes interviews with the applicants, checks on their character and an inspection or pre-registration visit to the service.
	The registered provider is responsible for providing a safe and effective service. This includes having a health and safety policy and risk assessments in place and audit systems to assess the quality of care.
	The Healthcare Commission currently inspects all registered establishments annually. Establishments are inspected against the requirements of the 2001 regulations and the NMS. Inspections focus on perceived areas of risk in each establishment. Assessment managers prepare written reports setting out requirements, recommendations, and areas of concern identified during inspections. These reports, which are published and available on the Commission's website, include timetables for compliance with any specific requirements.
	In addition, health care provided for NHS patients, be it by the NHS or for the NHS by a non-NHS establishment, is reviewed by the Healthcare Commission under the 2003 Act, against the NHS standards—"Standards for Better Health"—published by the Secretary of State in July 2004. As part of its review process, the Healthcare Commission ensures that services for NHS patients delivered from outside the NHS are commissioned against these standards, including those covering patient safety.
	Those services contracted directly by the Department from non-NHS organisations are commissioned using the framework of the "Standards for Better Health" and where appropriate are reviewed against the Private and Voluntary Healthcare Regulations and NMS.

Primary Care Trusts

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions she has had with the Royal College of Nursing about her plans to give primary care trusts a solely commissioning role.

Liam Byrne: The Department has had several discussions with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) on this issue, and a settlement has now been reached over judicial review proceedings that were issued by the RCN at the end of October 2005.
	A letter was issued from the Secretary of State on 8 December 2005 to the RCN General Secretary, Dr. Beverley Malone, which stated that:
	"We do not have a policy requirement or timetable for PCTs to divest themselves of provision. We well support PCTs whether or not they divest themselves of service provision, provided that what is being offered is genuinely best for local patient care.
	"We have tried to make this clear to the service, and as I said to Parliament on 25 October,
	"District Nurses, health visitors and other staff delivering clinical services will continue to be employees by their PCT, unless and until the PCT decides otherwise" and "any such decisions would be driven locally following our White Paper deliberations".
	In response to the letter, Dr. Beverly Malone has publicly stated:
	"Issuing an application to be granted permission to apply for judicial review is not a step the RCN took lightly. We are, therefore, pleased a settlement has been agreed with the Department of Health and especially welcome the reassurance that there is no policy requirement or timetable for PCTs to divest themselves of provision.
	"The RCN looks forward to working closely with the Government to ensure that nurses, and other health care workers, are involved in any decisions made about the future of the NHS."
	The RCN have been fully involved in discussions around the White Paper, which is due to be published at the end of January, and will set out a vision for the future of local health and care services that will address questions about how, when and in what settings primary care services are delivered.

Thrombosis

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what discussions she had on raising thrombosis as a patient safety issue during the UK presidency of the European Union;
	(2)  the prevention of venous thromboembolism was raised at the Patient Safety Summit held in London on 28 to 30 November 2005.

Jane Kennedy: The prevention of venous thromboembolism was not raised as a specific patient safety issue during the 2005 UK presidency of the European Union.
	However, in response to the Health Committee report on "The prevention of the Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) in Hospitalised Patients" published last year, the Government have established an independent expert working group to help develop a comprehensive strategy for both treatment and prevention of VTE.
	The VTE expert group has been asked to report to Chief Medical Officer by summer 2006.

Vitamin D (Infants)

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the optimum age at which breastfed babies will benefit from vitamin D drops; and which variety of vitamin D the Department recommends;
	(2)  if she will seek advice from the Food Standards Agency on the levels of vitamin D in various foods for infants and issue appropriate guidance.

Caroline Flint: The Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy (COMA) recommends that breastfed infants under six months do not need vitamin supplements provided the mother had an adequate vitamin status during pregnancy. From age six months, infants receiving breast milk as their main drink should be given supplements of vitamins A and D. Between the ages of one to five years, vitamins A and D supplements should be given unless adequate vitamin status can be assured from a diverse diet containing vitamins A and D rich foods and from moderate exposure to sunlight.
	The Department provides free vitamin supplements to children aged under five under the welfare food scheme, and this supplement provides seven micrograms of vitamin D3 per day. COMA also recommends a supplement for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers of 10 meg per day which we expect to provide under the healthy start scheme.
	The levels of vitamin D in various foods for infants are controlled by the Processed Cereal-based Foods and Baby Food for Infants and Young Children (England) Regulations 2004. These regulations set minimum and maximum levels for the vitamin D content of processed cereal-based foods for infants (0.25 to 0.75 per 100 kilojoules or 1 to 3 per 100 kilocalories).

Westmorland and Lonsdale

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) residential, (b) nursing and (c) elderly mentally infirm (i) homes and (ii) places were available in Westmorland and Lonsdale in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (A) local authority, (B) private sector and (C) charity and voluntary providers; and what percentage of capacity in each sector was used in each year.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 18 January 2006
	Information on the number of care and nursing care homes and places was collected by the Department from 1997 to 2001. The data were collected by health authority and council with social services responsibility areas. This information is shown in tables 1 and 2.
	Table 1 shows the number of care homes and places in Cumbria for adults age 18 and over, by type of accommodation at 31 March 1997 to 2001. Table 2 shows the number of care homes and places for older people with mental health problems in Cumbria, by type of accommodation at 31 March 1997 to 2001. Data are not available for the percentage of capacity used each year.
	
		Table 1: Number of care homes and places in Cumbria(53) by type of accommodation at 31 March 1997 to 2001 Rounded
		
			  Residential homes Nursing homes(53)(54) 
			  LA Voluntary Private(54) Small(55) Independent 
		
		
			 Homes  
			 1997 50 30 120 70 (57)— 
			 1998 40 40 100 60 30 
			 1999 40 40 100 50 20 
			 2000 50 40 100 50 20 
			 2001 50 50 80 50 30 
			   
			 Places  
			 1997 1,300 320 2,150 190 (57)— 
			 1998 1,200 410 2,040 170 840 
			 1999 1,200 420 2,110 150 950 
			 2000 1,160 490 2,120 150 880 
			 2001 1,160 510 2,010 130 820 
		
	
	(53) Residential data relates to Cumbria council with Social Services responsibilities; nursing data relates North Cumbria health authority.
	(54) Includes residential places that are in dual registered homes.
	(55) Independent registered care homes with less than four places.
	(56) Data for nursing homes include nursing places in dual registered homes.
	(57) Data are not available.
	Source:
	Department of Health forms RA Part A, RAC5, KO36 and RH(N) Part A
	
		Table 2: Number of homes and places for older people with mental health problems(58) by type of accommodation at 31 March 1997 to 2001
		
			  LA Voluntary Private(59) Small(60) Nursing(61) 
		
		
			 Homes  
			 1997 1 0 4 4 (62)— 
			 1998 1 1 1 4 5 
			 1999 1 1 0 4 5 
			 2000 0 1 0 2 5 
			 2001 0 1 0 5 6 
			 Places  
			 1997 40 0 139 12 (62)— 
			 1998 40 40 19 10 190 
			 1999 40 40 0 10 190 
			 2000 0 40 0 6 205 
			 2001 0 40 0 12 205 
		
	
	(58) Data in this table are for primary client group 'older people with mental health problems'.
	(59) Includes residential places that are in dual registered homes.
	(60) Independent registered care homes with less than four places.
	(61) Data are for North Cumbria health authority.
	(62) Data are not available.
	Source:
	Department of Health forms RA Part A and RAC5
	No data is available for 2002.
	The Commission for Social Care Inspection produces data on the number of care homes and places registered as at 31 March each year, beginning with 2003. There are some minor definitional differences between this data and those for years up to 2001.
	Table 3 shows the number of care homes and places that were registered in Cumbria local authority (LA), of which Westmorland and Lonsdale is part, at 31 March for the years 2003 to 2005, for adults aged 18 and over. Table 4 shows the number of care homes and places for older people with mental health problems in Cumbria LA for the same period. Data are not available for the percentage of capacity used each year.
	Data for Westmoreland and Lonsdale constituency is not available separately.
	
		Table 3
		
			  As at 31 March 2005 As at 31 March 2004 As at 31 March 2003 
			 Establishment category Number of homes Maximum number of places Number of homes Maximum number of places Number of homes Maximum number of places 
		
		
			 Nursing   
			 Independent 30 1,219 29 1,109 31 1,138 
			 Other 1 23 1 23 1 23 
			 Voluntary 2 59 2 59 2 59 
			
			 Personal care   
			 Independent 78 1,708 81 1,730 106 1,952 
			 Local authority 36 1,055 43 1,080 0 0 
			 Voluntary 49 502 49 502 49 498 
			 Totals 196 4,566 205 4,503 189 3,670 
		
	
	
		Table 4
		
			 Establishment category: DE(E) As at 31 March 2005 As at 31 March 2004 As at 31 March 2003 
			 elderly mentally infirm Number of homes Maximum number of places Number of homes Maximum number of places Number of homes Maximum number of places 
		
		
			 Nursing   
			 Independent 16 748 13 570 11 484 
			
			 Personal Care   
			 Independent 47 1,212 39 985 32 796 
			 Local Authority 30 961 30 961 0 0 
			 Voluntary 4 133 4 133 4 133 
			 Totals 97 3,054 86 2,649 47 1,413 
		
	
	Source:
	Commission for Social Care and Inspection registration and inspection database

Corruption

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases are on the register of overseas corruption allegations held by the National Criminal Intelligence Service; and how many of these are being investigated.

Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
	The Register of Referrals is now maintained by the Serious Fraud Office. The Department has initial responsibility for assessing reports that a United Kingdom national or other entity has engaged in conduct outside the United Kingdom which may render that person or corporate entity liable for prosecution within the United Kingdom under sections 108 and 109 of the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001.
	66 cases have been entered on the register of which six are currently the subject of investigations by the Serious Fraud Office and four by other authorities.

Crime Statistics

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average number of crimes reported per day was in Lancashire in the last year for which figures are available; and what estimate he has made of the incidence of unreported crime in Lancashire over the same period.

Hazel Blears: The published data relate to the number of crimes recorded by the police in terms of financial years. For the year 2004–05, Lancashire police recorded 152,043 offences. This figure takes into account the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in April 2002. Therefore figures after April 2002 are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.
	Estimates of the proportion of crime that is reported to the police can be made at a national level using the British crime survey (BCS), however sample sizes are not sufficient to reliably estimate reporting rates at the sub-national data is available. 42 per cent. of victims interviewed in the 2004–05 BCS said that the incident had been reported to the police or was known to them. This figure is similar to that for 2003–04 and shows that most crimes (58 per cent. of comparable crimes) are never reported to the police.

Crime Statistics

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of young offenders re-offended in (a) Lancashire and (b) west Lancashire constituency in each year since 2002.

Fiona Mactaggart: Re-offending rates are not available centrally on a sub-national basis.
	National reconviction rates—a commonly used proxy for reoffending—are published on the Home Office website. The data relates to young offenders who were discharged from prison, began a community sentence, or received a pre-court disposal in the first quarters of 2001 and 2002. (www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/rdsolr0805.pdf)

Highways Act

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) males and (b) females were (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted during 2004 of an offence under section 131(2) of the Highways Act 1980, including that provision as applied by section 27(6) of the Countryside Act.

Paul Goggins: Data from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of males and females proceeded against and found guilty at the magistrates courts for offences under a number of sections including section 131 of the Highways Act 1980, England and Wales, 2004 is given in the table. It is not possible to separately identify those offences under section 131 from offences under other sections collected within the same code group.
	
		Number of males and females proceeded against and found guilty at the magistrates courts for offences under certain sections of the Highways Act 1980, England and Wales 2004(64) Offence description: various offencesStatute: Highways Act 1980, SS 46, 73, 74, 79, 131, 134 & 136
		
			  2004 
			  Proceeded against Found guilty 
		
		
			 Male 15 8 
			 Female 2 2 
		
	
	(64) These data are provided on the principal offence basis.

Historical Sex Abuse Investigations

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the work of the National Centre for Policing Excellence in relation to historical sex abuse investigations.

Paul Goggins: The National Centre for Policing Excellence (NCPE) was established on 1 April 2003. Its primary goal is "professionalism of policing" through enhancement of the capabilities of those involved in tackling crime.
	Any number of forces may be investigating historic child abuse cases at any one time and, as individuals involved in such cases may have moved around the country, there was a chance that individuals could be investigated by more than one police force at the same time. To avoid this duplication the Association of Chief Police Officers asked the Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS), part of NCPE, to take over the Historical Institutional Child Abuse Database and keep it operating as long as required. A recent evaluation has indicated that there is still a requirement for such a database.
	Guidance on Investigating Serious Sexual Offences was published on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) by the National Centre for Policing Excellence in September 2005. This document touches on the investigation of historic child abuse cases.

Illegal Fireworks

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal fireworks were seized in (a) West Lancashire, (b) Lancashire and (c) England in each of the last five years for which records are available.

Hazel Blears: The Home Office does not collect or hold figures on the number of seized illegal fireworks.
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Alan Johnson) on the 30 November 2005, Official Report, column 594W.

Knives

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been found to be unlawfully carrying knives in public without good reason in each division of Staffordshire police force in each year since the introduction of the Knives Act 1997.

Hazel Blears: Data from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform for the number of people found guilty at all courts for carrying knives in public without good reason or lawful authority for Staffordshire police force area, 2002–04 is in the following table.
	It is not possible to identify those convictions by each division of Staffordshire police as the data is not collected at this level of detail.
	
		Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts under Criminal Justice Act 1988, Sec 139(65), Staffordshire police force area(66), 1997 to 2004
		
			 Offence description Statute Year Found guilty 
		
		
			 Having an article with Criminal Justice Act 1997 23 
			 blade or point in public 1988, Sec 139 as amended 1998 39 
			 place by Offensive Weapons 1999 42 
			  Act 1996, Sec 3 2000 24 
			   2001 33 
			   2002 68 
			   2003 63 
			   2004 69 
			 
			 Having an article with Criminal Justice Act 1988, 1997 — 
			 blade or point on school Sec 139A(1)(5)(a) added 1998 — 
			 premises by Offensive Weapons Act 1999 — 
			  1996, Sec4(1) 2000 — 
			   2001 1 
			   2002 — 
			   2003 — 
			   2004 2 
		
	
	(65) These data are on the principal offence basis.
	(66) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.

Migrations Fund

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the size is of the migrations fund to help failed asylum seekers resettle in their own country; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The total resources available to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate Migration Fund for this financial year are £3.6 million. The Migration Fund was established in 2005 in response to the needs identified in IND's five year plan, "Controlling our Borders: Making migration work for Britain". It is used to finance projects aimed at managing illegal migration and refugee protection in source and transit countries of concern to the UK. The Fund can also assist in other areas, such as in supporting returns, including those of failed asylum seekers. FCO have a parallel, but linked, Migration Fund with objectives similar to that of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate Fund.

Overseas Prisoners

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 13 July 2005, Official Report, column 1094W, on overseas prisoners, whether the UK has a bilateral prisoner transfer agreement with the United States; whether not keeping records of transit applications are a standard of such agreements' whether transit applications are recorded electronically at any stage in the process; and by what means records of transit applications are disposed of once the transit has been completed.

Fiona Mactaggart: The United Kingdom and the United States are both parties to the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons. The Convention provides for the transfer of sentenced persons to continue serving their sentences in their country of nationality or one with which the sentenced person has close links. Transfer under the Convention requires the consent of both states involved and the prisoner concerned.
	Article 16 of the Convention enables contracting parties to transit through UK airports to another contracting party, or to a third party, where transfer of the prisoner has been agreed in accordance with the relevant international agreement. The Convention does not require that records of transit requests be kept. For the purposes of the transfer of sentence prisoners transit only takes place in the United Kingdom through Gatwick and Heathrow and it is the normal practice of states wishing to transit through Heathrow or Gatwick airports to fax a request to the National Offender Management Service. The request would normally contain details of the individual concerned, including sentence and offence details, the agreement under which transfer has been agreed, and flight details. The National Offender Management Service then makes the relevant arrangements for transit. Once transit has been completed the request is destroyed either by shredding or disposal in confidential waste. Secure disposal is used because requests contain personal information about the prisoner. Transit requests are not electronically recorded.

Parliamentary Questions

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to question 39532, tabled by the hon. Member for Birkenhead on 19 December 2005.

Fiona Mactaggart: holding answer 16 January 2006
	I replied to my right hon. Friend on 16 January 2006, Official Report, column 1117W.

Police

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of (a) police officers and (b) the population of England and Wales is from ethnic minorities; and what the equivalent figures are for West Yorkshire.

Hazel Blears: The data requested for (a) police officers from ethnic minorities for each police force area in England and Wales is available from the 'Police Service Strength publication as at 31st March 2005'. This report was published on 25 July 2005 and is available in the Library and on:
	www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hosb1205.pdf
	The population of England and Wales that are from ethnic minorities is available from the 2001 Census published by the Office for National Statistics.

Police

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether police regulations allow serving officers to participate in the activities of political parties; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: Paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the Police Regulations 2003 states that
	"A member of a police force shall at all times abstain from any activity which is likely to interfere with the impartial discharge of his duties or which is likely to give rise to the impression amongst members of the public that it may so interfere; and in particular a member of a police force shall not take any active part in polities".

Regional Offender Managers

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether offices have been (a) rented and (b) purchased by Regional Offender Managers; where each of these offices is located; and what the annual cost is for each.

Fiona Mactaggart: holding answer 23 January 2006
	Seven Regional Offender Managers (ROMs) have been allocated temporary "serviced" office accommodation, let on a licence for a period of 12 months. The Licence enables the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) to take further space in line with planned expansion but only pay for space actually taken. These seven offices are:
	South-west—Exeter
	Wales—Cardiff
	North-west—Manchester
	East Midlands—Leicester
	Yorkshire and Humberside—Wakefield
	London—London (from April 2006)
	South-east—London and Oxford (from April 2006)
	The ROM for the North-east is located in a Government building in Newcastle under a three year Memorandum Of Terms of Occupation (MOTO) with a break clause at 18 months.
	The ROM for the West Midlands is currently in temporary Government accommodation in Birmingham and will be moved in to Government Office for the West Midlands in April 2006 on a three year MOTO, with breaks.
	The ROM for the East of England remains within leased accommodation in Peterborough (former Area Manager for the East of England) where he is likely to remain. The lease is a short-term lease (three years) subject to 12 months notice.
	The annual costs for this accommodation (inclusive of VAT) is as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 Licences  
			 South-west 92,448 
			 Wales 98,982 
			 North-west 83,748 
			 East Midlands 87,984 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 64,578 
			 London 135,000 
			 South-east 110,064 
			   
			 MOTOs  
			 North-east 30,000 
			 West Midlands Approx (76)90,000 
			   
			 Lease  
			 East of England 79,000 
		
	
	(76) Yet to be agreed.

Reoffending

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued in determining the risk that an offender presents (a) to the public and (b) of reoffending; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Probation Service assesses risk of harm and likelihood of reconviction using the Offender Assessment System (OASys). The principal source of guidance for staff is the OASys Manual. In addition to the Manual there are various pieces of practice guidance.

Reoffending

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to reduce reoffending.

Fiona Mactaggart: Building on the National Action Plan launched in 2004, in November 2005 we launched the National Reducing Reoffending Delivery Plan, the cornerstones of which are: partnership working at national, regional and local levels; end-to end-offender management under the National Offender Management Service (NOMS); and public protection. The Delivery Plan sets out the key actions the Government intends to take over the next 18 months towards the delivery of our target of reducing re-offending by 10 per cent. by the end of the decade. It also charts the real progress NOMS and its partners have made over the last 18 months in delivering services to offenders that address the reasons for their re-offending. For example, 87 per cent. of prisoners on whom information is recorded now have accommodation to go to on release, the number of educational awards offenders have achieved has risen by 40 per cent. and the number completing a drug treatment course in prison or a drug testing order in the community is up by a third. (Copies of the Delivery Plan were placed in the Library at the time of publication.)
	Alongside the Delivery Plan, we announced three important new reducing re-offending alliances. The first of these will build on links with employers at national, regional and local levels to explore how businesses can work with NOMS to improve the employability and training of offenders. The second, the civic society alliance, will involve working with local authorities and other local partners to support the resettlement and reintegration of offenders. The final alliance is with faith groups and the voluntary sector and will address the needs of offenders through the innovative work by faith and voluntary sector groups already under way.
	Complementing the alliances, NOMS has published an Action Plan to improve effective engagement and partnership with the voluntary and community sector. Also, as part of the cross-Government "Together We Can" Action Plan, NOMS and the Youth Justice Board have developed a joint approach to working with communities and civil renewal. This has the twin aims of reducing re-offending and increasing public confidence, with a focus on four priorities: public protection; unpaid and reparative work; victims and restorative justice; and community integration.
	In December we published, jointly with colleagues in the Department for Education and Skills and the Department for Work and Pensions, a Green Paper, 'Reducing Re-offending Through Skills and Employment'. We have been developing proposals for embedding skills and employment for offenders as key tenets of the broader national delivery plan for reducing re-offending. We hope that this will start a constructive dialogue with our partners about how we can most effectively equip offenders for employment and with the basic skills needed for law-abiding adult life, including engaging employers in the design and delivery of programmes for offenders and drive improvement in the quality of the programmes offered to offenders.
	Beyond this, NOMS is about to publish a five year strategy. This will set out the wider vision for how NOMS will work with its many partners to reduce re-offending and cut crime.

Sex Offenders Register

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average length of time was between a relevant conviction in court and the sexual offenders register being updated in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: The term "sex offenders register" is a reference to the requirement under Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 on all offenders who have received a conviction or caution for certain sexual offences to notify certain personal information to the police and, for a period of time set out in legislation, keep the police informed of: any changes to those details; any period of seven days spent at another address, and; any intention to travel overseas for three days or more.
	Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 requires all relevant offenders to make an "initial notification" with the police, at a designated police station, within three days of their caution or conviction. If an offender is serving a term of imprisonment on the day that his "initial notification" falls due, then he must make this notification within three days of his release from imprisonment. Failure to comply with the notification requirements is a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment.
	The Association of Chief Police Officers estimate that 97 per cent. of offenders comply with the notification requirements.

Speed Cameras/Speedmeters

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which speedmeters have been type-approved for police use.

Paul Goggins: The following list details speedmeters type approved for police use.
	Home Office type approved speedmeters as at 6 December 2005
	Attended actively operated
	1. Hand Held Radar Speed Measuring Devices:
	Kustom HR four—Kustom Electronics
	Kustom HR eight—Kustom Electronics
	Kustom Roadrunner—Kustom Electronics
	Kustom Falcon—Kustom Electronics
	Kustom Cordless Falcon—Kustom Electronics
	MuniQuip K-GP—Tribar Industries Inc.
	Speedar SR1—Ottery Electronics
	2. Tripod Mounted Radar Speed Measuring Devices:
	Gatsometer BV Type 24+AUS—Gatsometer BV
	3. Pneumatic Tube Sensor Speed Measuring Devices:
	Speedmaster DS2—Traffic Safety Systems Ltd.
	Autovision two with the above—Traffic Safety Systems Ltd.
	Speedmaster DS3—Traffic Safety Systems Ltd.
	Autovision three with the above—Traffic Safety Systems Ltd.
	4. Piezo Sensor Speed Measuring Devices:
	Micro Mercury Speed Measuring System 905000—Traffic Technology Research Ltd.
	Micro Mercury Vision System 92600Traffic—Traffic Technology Research Ltd.
	Speedmaster DS2—Traffic Safety Systems Ltd.
	Autovision two with the above—Traffic Safety Systems Ltd.
	Speedmaster DS3—Traffic Safety Systems Ltd.
	Autovision three with the above—Traffic Safety Systems Ltd.
	M4 Squared Speed Measuring Device—Truvelo
	Combi S Speedmeter—Truvelo
	Combi S-mc Speedmeter—Truvelo
	5. Laser Speedmeters:
	LTI 20/20 Laser Hand Held Device—Tele Traffic
	LTI 20/20 TS/M "Speedscope" Speed Measuring Device
	LTI 20/20 Ultralyte 100
	LASTEC Local Video system used with all of the above
	LaserCam Digital Camera System—Locktronic Systems
	LaserCam NT Digital Camera System—Poltech International
	ProLaser II Kustom
	Autovision three with the above via the Laser Data Interface—Traffic Safety Systems
	Prolaser III Kustom
	Autovision three with the above via the Laser Data Interface—Traffic Safety Systems
	Riegl LR90–235/P—Riegl
	RieglFG21-P—Riegl
	Stealth Speedlaser— Cleartone
	Urban Speed Ace—UNIPAR
	Speed Laser SL700
	Speedeye for use with both of the above
	Laser Patrol SpeedLaser—Jenoptik
	Leica XV2 SpeedLaser—Leivtec
	Autovelox 104/C-2—Sodi Scientifica
	Automatic—unmanned
	1. Radar:
	Gatsometer BV Type 24+AUS—Gatsometer BV
	Serco Speed Enforcement System Type one operating with either Techspan CMI Type 450 EE or SES CMI Type 450EE
	2. Piezo cable sensors:
	Traffiphot S—Traffipax
	Combi S Speedmeter—Truvelo
	Combi S-mc Speedmeter—Truvelo
	SpeedCurb Speed Safety Camera—RedSpeed International Ltd.
	3. Automatic Distance Over Time Speedmeters
	Speed Violation Detection Deterrent
	SVDD
	4. Combined Speed and Red Light Cameras:
	RedSpeed Red Light and Speed Safety Camera—RedSpeed International Ltd.
	Automatic—supervised
	1. Piezo cable sensors:
	Combi S Speedmeter—Truvelo
	Speedmaster DS3 with the Autovision three—Traffic Safety Systems Ltd.
	2. Pnuematic tube Sensor Speed Measuring Devices:
	Speedmaster DS3 with the Autovision three—Traffic Safety Systems Ltd.

Benefits

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) income support and (c) incapacity benefit claims later determined to be fraudulent in Wales in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The available information is in the table.
	
		Benefit overpayments due to customer fraud in Wales £
		
			 Year ending JSA IS IB 
		
		
			 2001–02 688,961 6,162,199 1,011,804 
			 2002–03 535,633 4,490,391 990,922 
			 2003–04 502,282 3,821,941 1,086,480 
			 2004–05 845,657 5,529,937 1,109,785 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures obtained from the General Matching Service (GMS) include customer error and customer fraud, as these cannot be provided separately by GMS.
	2. Figures are based on recoverable benefit overpayments identified during the years shown and may span previous years.
	3. Information in this form was not captured before 2000–01.
	Source:
	FIBS (Fraud Information By Sector) and GMS (General Matching Service).

Benefits

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress has been made on the simplification of (a) structures and (b) payment systems for in-work benefits.

James Plaskitt: The in-work benefits administered by the Department for Work and Pensions are housing benefit and council tax benefits.
	On 24 January 2006 we published our Green Paper "A new deal for welfare: empowering people to work". This details our proposals for simplification and reform of housing benefit in the private sector and consults on the direction of reform for social sector.
	We are also continuing our programme of measures to simplify housing benefit and council tax benefits rules to align more closely with pension credit and tax credits.
	No changes have been made in payment systems in respect of housing benefit.

Benefits

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the 20 councils with the longest times for processing new housing benefit claims according to the most recent figures available; and what that time was in each case.

James Plaskitt: The available information is in the table.
	
		Housing benefit (HB) and council tax benefit (CTB) processing times—20 longest Days
		
			 Local authority HB and CTB claims HB claims CTB claims 
		
		
			 Great Yarmouth 112 110 114 
			 Newcastle under Lyme 108 92 124 
			 Bracknell Forest 93 112 76 
			 North Wiltshire 88 88 88 
			 Copeland 83 81 85 
			 Staffordshire Moorlands 82 87 79 
			 Ipswich 80 80 79 
			 Stoke on Trent 79 77 81 
			 Broxtowe 76 74 78 
			 Walsall 72 n/a n/a 
			 Northampton 70 69 71 
			 Dover 68 66 71 
			 Thurrock 68 64 71 
			 Hinckley and Bosworth 68 61 71 
			 Herefordshire 65 68 64 
			 Sefton 64 63 64 
			 Oadby and Wigston 63 n/a n/a 
			 Mid Devon 63 57 69 
			 Coventry 63 58 67 
			 Hackney 62 64 60 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. n/a=breakdown for performance on HB and CTB not available.
	2. Not all LAs have returned data in every quarter and therefore the reported figures are the weighted averages of those that have returned figures.
	3. Where possible we have provided average processing times for housing benefit and council tax benefit, with an overall average, to ensure consistency with DWP published statistics.
	4. Number of days relates to average calendar days taken to decide a new HB or CTB claim from the date the authority first receives a claim, to the date a decision is made.
	Source:
	Local authority (LA) quarterly statistical returns to DWP; second quarter of 2005–06.

Benefits

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what proportion of new claimants of incapacity benefit in each year since 1997 were already in receipt of another benefit; and what proportion were new benefit claimants;
	(2)  what proportion of new claimants of incapacity benefit in each year since 1997 were already in receipt of another benefit; and what proportion were new benefit claimants.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available in the format requested. The available information is in the table.
	
		Incapacity benefit commencements already in receipt of income support by quarter Thousands and percentage
		
			  All incapacity benefit commencements Those already in receipt of income support Percentage of all incapacity benefit commencements 
		
		
			 May 1997 231.8 33.8 15 
			 August 1997 234.6 28.7 12 
			 November 1997 230.3 24.8 11 
			 February 1998 209.7 21.9 10 
			 May 1998 200.5 20.5 10 
			 August 1998 202.6 20.7 10 
			 November 1998 211.9 20.7 10 
			 February 1999 198.1 20.0 10 
			 May 1999 200.4 19.2 10 
			 August 1999 195.1 20.5 11 
			 November 1999 199.8 20.8 10 
			 February 2000 190.3 20.7 11 
			 May 2000 193.1 20.5 11 
			 August 2000 192.2 21.1 11 
			 November 2000 193.1 20.5 11 
			 February 2001 186.2 20.3 11 
			 May 2001 194.8 23.7 12 
			 August 2001 183.9 18.7 10 
			 November 2001 186.9 19.0 10 
			 February 2002 173.1 20.4 12 
			 May 2002 183.4 20.9 11 
			 August 2002 181.6 19.9 11 
			 November 2002 186.7 20.9 11 
			 February 2003 173.5 21.8 13 
			 May 2003 177.9 21.2 12 
			 August 2003 174.5 20.0 11 
			 November 2003 181.0 22.4 12 
			 February 2004 167.4 18.6 11 
			 May 2004 170.5 18.5 11 
			 August 2004 166.9 15.8 9 
			 November 2004 167.7 17.2 10 
			 February 2005 153.9 14.9 10 
			 May 2005 133.7 12.4 9 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred and expressed in thousands.
	2. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	3. Numbers are based on a 5 per cent. sample, and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. These figures should be used as a guide to the current situation only.
	4. Figures for the latest quarter do not include any late notifications and are subject to major changes in future quarters. For illustration purposes, total commencements for May 2004 increased by 18 per cent. in the year following their initial release.
	5. Income support figures will include a small number of minimum income guarantee and pension credit claimants.
	6. Incapacity benefit figures exclude severe disability allowance, since there are no new severe disability allowance commencements.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate 5 per cent. sample.

Benefits

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) male and (b) female incapacity benefit claimants there were in Blackpool, South (i) in total, (ii) broken down by age and (iii) broken down by category of claim in each of the past five years for which figures are available.

Anne McGuire: The information is in the table.
	
		Incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance (SDA) claimants in the Blackpool, South parliamentary constituency; by age and sex each May since 2000 Thousands
		
			  IB/SDA IB SDA 
		
		
			 May 2000  
			 All persons 8.0 7.2 0.9 
			 Under 25 0.4 0.3 0.1 
			 25–49 3.6 3.2 0.4 
			 50–59 2.8 2.6 0.2 
			 60–64 1.1 1.0 0.1 
			 65 and over 0.1 (88)— 0.1 
			 
			 Men 5.0 4.7 0.4 
			 Under 25 0.2 0.1 (88)— 
			 25–49 2.1 2.0 0.2 
			 50–59 1.6 1.6 0.1 
			 60–64 1.1 1.0 0.1 
			 65 and over (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 
			 Women 3.0 2.5 0.5 
			 Under 25 0.2 0.1 (88)— 
			 25–49 1.5 1.3 0.2 
			 50–59 1.2 1.1 0.2 
			 60–64 (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 65 and over (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 
			 May 2001
			 All persons 8.1 7.3 0.8 
			 Under 25 0.4 0.3 0.1 
			 25–49 3.7 3.3 0.4 
			 50–59 2.9 2.6 0.2 
			 60–64 1.1 1.0 0.1 
			 65 and over 0.1 (88)— 0.1 
			 
			 Men 5.1 4.7 0.4 
			 Under 25 0.2 0.2 (88)— 
			 25–49 2.2 2.0 0.2 
			 50–59 1.6 1.5 0.1 
			 60–64 1.0 1.0 (88)— 
			 65 and over (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 
			 Women 3.1 2.6 0.5 
			 Under 25 0.2 0.2 (88)— 
			 25–49 1.5 1.3 0.2 
			 50–59 1.3 1.1 0.2 
			 60–64 (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 65 and over (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 
			 May 2002
			 All persons 8.1 7.3 0.8 
			 Under 25 0.4 0.3 (88)— 
			 25–49 3.7 3.3 0.4 
			 50–59 2.9 2.6 0.2 
			 60–64 1.1 1.0 0.1 
			 65 and over 0.1 (88)— 0.1 
			 
			 Men 5.0 4.7 0.3 
			 Under 25 0.2 0.2 (88)— 
			 25–49 2.2 2.1 0.2 
			 50–59 1.6 1.5 0.1 
			 60–64 1.0 1.0 (88)— 
			 65 and over (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 
			 Women 3.0 2.6 0.5 
			 Under 25 0.2 0.2 (88)— 
			 25–49 1.5 1.3 0.2 
			 50–59 1.3 1.1 0.2 
			 60–64 (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 65 and over (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 
			 May 2003
			 All persons 8.2 7.4 0.7 
			 Under 25 0.4 0.4 (88)— 
			 25–49 3.9 3.5 0.4 
			 50–59 2.8 2.6 0.2 
			 60–64 1.1 1.0 0.1 
			 65 and over 0.1 (88)— 0.1 
			 Men 5.1 4.8 0.3 
			 Under 25 0.2 0.2 (88)— 
			 25–49 2.3 2.1 0.2 
			 50–59 1.5 1.5 0.1 
			 60–64 1.0 1.0 (88)— 
			 65 and over (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 
			 Women 3.1 2.7 0.4 
			 Under 25 0.2 0.2 (88)— 
			 25–49 1.6 1.4 0.2 
			 50–59 1.3 1.1 0.1 
			 60–64 (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 65 and over (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 
			 May 2004
			 All persons 8.3 7.6 0.7 
			 Under 25 0.4 0.4 (88)— 
			 25–49 4.0 3.6 0.4 
			 50–59 2.9 2.7 0.2 
			 60–64 1.0 0.9 0.1 
			 65 and over 0.1 (88)— 0.1 
			 
			 Men 5.1 4.8 0.3 
			 Under 25 0.2 0.2 (88)— 
			 25–49 2.4 2.2 0.2 
			 50–59 1.6 1.5 0.1 
			 60–64 0.9 0.9 (88)— 
			 65 and over (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 
			 Women 3.2 2.8 0.4 
			 Under 25 0.2 0.2 (88)— 
			 25–49 1.6 1.4 0.2 
			 50–59 1.3 1.2 0.1 
			 60–64 (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 65 and over (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 
			 May 2005
			 All persons 8.2 7.5 0.7 
			 Under 25 0.4 0.4 (88)— 
			 25–49 4.0 3.6 0.4 
			 50–59 2.8 2.6 0.2 
			 60–64 0.9 0.9 0.1 
			 65 and over 0.1 (88)— 0.1 
			 
			 Men 5.0 4.7 0.3 
			 Under 25 0.2 0.2 (88)— 
			 25–49 2.3 2.2 0.1 
			 50–59 1.5 1.5 0.1 
			 60–64 0.9 0.9 (88)— 
			 65 and over (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 
			 Women 3.2 2.8 0.4 
			 Under 25 0.2 0.2 (88)— 
			 25–49 1.6 1.4 0.2 
			 50–59 1.2 1.1 0.1 
			 60–64 (88)— (88)— (88)— 
			 65 and over (88)— (88)— (88)— 
		
	
	(88) Denotes nil or negligible.
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and shown in thousands.
	2. 'Claimant' figures include all IB/SDA claimants (including IB credits only cases)
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data.

Benefits

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total expenditure was for those on incapacity benefits due to (a) mental ill health and (b) behavioural reasons in each year since 1997.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available broken down as requested. The available information is in the tables.
	
		Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance expenditure for those with a primary diagnosis in the mental and behavioural disorders group of diagnoses— Cash terms £ million
		
			   Incapacity benefit Severe disablement allowance 
		
		
			 1997–98 1,435 354 
			 1998–99 1,532 361 
			 1999–2000 1,562 375 
			 2000–01 1,663 384 
			 2001–02 1,765 402 
			 2002–03 1,900 371 
			 2003–04 1,999 368 
			 2004–05 2,079 367 
		
	
	
		Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance expenditure for those with a primary diagnosis in the mental and behavioural disorders group of diagnoses—Real terms (2005–06 prices) £ million
		
			   Incapacity benefit Severe disablement allowance 
		
		
			 1997–98 1,725 426 
			 1998–99 1,796 423 
			 1999–2000 1,795 432 
			 2000–01 1,886 436 
			 2001–02 1,954 445 
			 2002–03 2,039 398 
			 2003–04 2,090 385 
			 2004–05 2,129 376 
		
	
	Note:
	Expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest £1 million.
	Source:
	PBR 2005 Expenditure Tables and DWP Information Centre 5 per cent. sample data.

Benefits

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people received incapacity benefit on the grounds of dependency on (a) drugs and (b) alcohol in each year since 1997.

Anne McGuire: The available information is in the table.
	
		Incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance (SDA) claimants with a diagnosis of "Alcoholism" or "Drug Abuse" in Great Britain
		
			 As at May each year Alcoholism Drug Abuse 
		
		
			 1997 27,100 21,900 
			 1998 30,100 25,300 
			 1999 32,800 27,900 
			 2000 35,800 31,300 
			 2001 38,900 36,900 
			 2002 41,300 41,300 
			 2003 43,700 44,600 
			 2004 46,200 46,600 
			 2005 48,000 48,300 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures for the years 1997 to 1999 have been produced using the 5 per cent. data and have been rated up proportionally using the Great Britain WPLS 100 per cent. IB/SDA totals.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	3. 'Claimant' figures include all IB and SDA, including IB credits only cases.
	4. All diagnoses are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition, published by the World Health Organisation.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples from 1997 to 1999 and Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data thereafter.

Benefits

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people leaving incapacity benefit in (a) the last six months, (b) the last 12 months and (c) the last seven years represented (i) transfers to other social security benefits, (ii) people moving from benefit into employment and (iii) people moving off benefit to unknown destinations.

Anne McGuire: The information is in the table.
	
		Incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance (SDA) leavers by destination during periods shown.
		
			  IB/SDA claims ending in the last six months(89) IB/SDA claims ending in the last 12 months(90) IB/SDA claims ending in the last seven years(91) 
		
		
			 Total number of claims ending 355,400 707,400 5,336,800 
			 Transfer to other benefits(92) 83,900 166,000 1,334,000 
			 Return to IB/SDA(93) 16,700 32,400 268,600 
			 Reach retirement age or are recorded as moving to state pension 29,000 60,900 448,500 
			 Recorded as death of claimant 13,100 25,800 183,400 
			 Recorded as returned to work(94) 14,500 26,700 136,500 
			 Residual unknown destinations 198,200 395,500 2,965,800 
		
	
	(89) IB/SDA claims ending in the last 12 months includes IB/SDA claims terminating from 1 March 2004 to 28 February 2005, this is the latest year for which figures are available.
	(90) IB/SDA claims ending in the last seven years include IB/SDA claims terminating from 1 March 1998 to 28 February 2005.
	(91) Those transferring to other benefits include those moving onto income support pension credit, jobseeker's allowance, working families tax credit, disabled persons tax credit within 90 days of the IB/SDA claim ending.
	(92) Return to IB/SDA includes those claimants who make another claim to IB/SDA within 90 days of their previous claim terminating.
	(93) It is known that the number recorded as returning to work underestimates the true situation. It is not possible to determine the number that moved to employment, however the "Destinations of Benefit Leavers 2004" report showed that 62 per cent. of IS, JSA and IB leavers entered employment of 16 hours or more a week.
	(94) Destinations of terminated IB/SDA claims are assigned in the priority order shown above.
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	2. IB/SDA claims ending in the last six months include IB/SDA claims terminating from 1 September 2004 to 28 February 2005.
	3 Figures for the "last six months" and "last 12 months" given above will increase significantly following receipt of late notifications.
	Source:
	Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples (terminations dataset).

Benefits

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average length of time for an appeal by a claimant against a decision on non-entitlement to incapacity benefit to be heard was in each year since 2000.

Anne McGuire: This is a matter for Dr. Christina Townsend, chief executive of the Appeals Service. She will respond to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Christina Townsend, dated January 2006
	The Secretary of State has asked me to respond to your question regarding what the average length of time for an appeal by a claimant against a decision on non-entitlement to incapacity benefit to be heard was in each year since 2000.
	The information you have asked for is set out in the table below.
	
		Average Appeal Durations from Lodged to Outcome Weeks
		
			  2001 2002 2003 2004 2005(95) 
		
		
			 All IB 22.59 22.28 20.72 19.63 18.9 
			 IBPCA 21.88 21.79 20.59 19.63 18.78 
			 IB Non-PCA 27.05 25.61 21.64 19.64 19.83 
		
	
	(95) Years are represented from January to December in each instance except 2005 where January to September has been used.
	Notes:
	1. All figures are subject to change as more up to date data becomes available.
	2. "Lodged" denotes when an appeal is submitted to the first tier agency. Lodged data only enters the GAPS database when the Appeal reaches the Appeals Service.
	3. Duration is derived by calculating the time difference from when an appeal is lodged until when it is cleared. It is represented in weeks.
	4. PCA is the Personal Capability Assessment.
	Source:
	100% download of the Generic Appeals Processing System.
	I hope this reply is helpful.

Benefits

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of incapacity benefit claimants were aged over (a) 40, (b) 50, (c) 55, (d) 60 and (e) 65 years in each of the last seven years.

Anne McGuire: The information is in the table.
	
		Incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance (SDA) claimants by age group Thousand and percentage
		
			  Claimants Percentage 
		
		
			 May 1999   
			 All Ages 2,755.2 100.0 
			 Under 40 793.5 29.0 
			 40–49 663.4 24.2 
			 50–59 946.4 34.6 
			 60–64 331.1 12.1 
			 65 and over 31.7 1.2 
			
			 May 2000   
			 All Ages 2,737.8 100.0 
			 Under 40 807.5 29.5 
			 40–49 593.1 21.7 
			 50–59 930.4 34.0 
			 60–64 381.2 13.9 
			 65 and over 25.6 0.9 
			
			 May 2001   
			 All Ages 2,808.6 100.0 
			 Under 40 837.2 30.6 
			 40–49 615.2 22.5 
			 50–59 956.7 34.9 
			 60–64 373.3 13.6 
			 65 and over 26.0 1.0 
			
			 May 2002   
			 All Ages 2,822.2 100.0 
			 Under 40 841.2 30.7 
			 40–49 629.9 23.0 
			 50–59 960.9 35.1 
			 60–64 363.5 13.3 
			 65 and over 26.7 1.0 
			
			 May 2003   
			 All Ages 2,829.7 100.0 
			 Under 40 844.2 30.8 
			 40–49 645.6 23.6 
			 50–59 960.3 35.1 
			 60–64 352.1 12.9 
			 65 and over 27.6 1.0 
			
			 May 2004   
			 All Ages 2,825.0 100.0 
			 Under 40 838.5 30.6 
			 40–49 659.7 24.1 
			 50–59 955.8 34.9 
			 60–64 342.8 12.5 
			 65 and over 28.2 1.0 
			
			 May 2005   
			 All Ages 2,784.0 100.0 
			 Under 40 810.6 29.6 
			 40–49 667.0 24.4 
			 50–59 944.4 34.5 
			 60–64 333.0 12.2 
			 65 and over 29.0 1.1 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and shown in thousands.
	2. Figures for the year 1999 have been produced using the 5 per cent. data and have been rated up proportionally using the Great Britain WPLS 100 per cent. IB/SDA totals.
	3. 'Claimant' figures include all IB/SDA claimants, including IB credits only cases.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples for 1999 and Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data thereafter.

Child Support

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many requests to HM Revenue and Customs for information regarding the income of non-resident parents were made by the Child Support Agency in each month over the last three years; and what the average time taken to respond was.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 30 January 2006
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many requests to HM Revenue and Customs for information regarding the income of non-resident parents were made by the Child Support Agency in each month over the last three years; and what the average time taken to respond was.
	The Agency requests earnings information from two areas of HMRC, they are the Centre for Revenue Intelligence and the National Insurance Contributions Office.
	Requests for earnings information originate from the Agency's caseworkers who are familiar with the standards underpinning the Service Level Agreement which details the services to be provided and the timescales for the provision of those services. Where these are not met, caseworkers will escalate on a case by case basis either directly with HMRC via their "Trace Champion" or through a central Service Level Agreement Team to resolve any specific issues.
	Because of these arrangements the Agency does not generate internal management information on either requests or timescales.
	The Centre for Revenue Intelligence does hold information on requests made for earnings from the Agency. These are shown in the table at annex A.
	The arrangements with National Insurance Contributions Office are similar to that of The Centre for Revenue Intelligence although caseworkers will go directly to the central Service Level Agreement Team if the service falls below the required standard.
	The National Insurance Contributions Office holds information on total Department of Work and Pensions referrals, however this is not disaggregated for the Child Support Agency.
	I hope you find this useful.
	
		Annex A
		
			 Financial year 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 
		
		
			 Month  
			 April 1,709 1,243 1,576 2,727 2,581 
			 May 1,559 2,111 1,887 2,130 1,942 
			 June 1,931 1,217 2,072 2,030 1,930 
			 July 1,567 1,153 1,658 2,856 2,351 
			 August 1,898 1,591 2,319 2,143 2,058 
			 September 1,143 1,283 1,980 2,101 2,210 
			 October 1,478 1,405 2,877 2,714 2,219 
			 November 1,711 2,009 2,225 1,919 — 
			 December 1,184 1,431 1,444 1,810 — 
			 January 1,170 1,837 1,619 2,024 — 
			 February 1,257 1,587 2,082 2,227 — 
			 March 1,712 1,814 2,369 2,255 — 
			 Total 18,319 18,681 24,108 26,936 15,291

Child Support

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) absence rates due to sickness and (b) turnover rates for Child Support Agency staff were for each month of the last calendar year.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 30 January 2006
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) absence rates due to sickness and (b) turnover rates for Child Support Agency staff were for each month of the last calendar year.
	The tables below provide the information requested.
	
		(a) Absence rates due to sickness Sickness
		
			 In month: 2004–05 2005–06 
		
		
			 April 15.0 12.6 
			 May 15.3 12.1 
			 June 15.2 11.8 
			 July 16.0 11.4 
			 August 15.3 11.5 
			 September 15.6 11.2 
			 October 16.6 11.2 
			 November 16.4 — 
			 December 17.1 — 
			 January 17.5 — 
			 February 16.3 — 
			 March 14.6 — 
		
	
	Note:
	The table above shows the Average Working Days Lost to sickness each month on an annualised basis.
	
		(b) Turnover rates for Child Support Agency staff Turnover (percentage)
		
			 In month: 2004–05 2005–06 
		
		
			 April 0.7 1.4 
			 May 1.0 0.8 
			 June 0.7 0.8 
			 July 1.1 0.8 
			 August 1.0 1.0 
			 September 1.3 1.0 
			 October 1.1 0.8 
			 November 1.1 — 
			 December 0.7 — 
			 January 1.1 — 
			 February 0.8 — 
			 March 0.8 — 
		
	
	Note:
	The table above reflects the percentage monthly staff turnover rate for CSA Great Britain. The figures include both internal and external leavers (permanent, fixed term and temporary staff).
	I hope you find this response helpful.

Child Support

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total cost of compensation payments made to clients of the Child Support Agency for administrative errors was in each of the last five years.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 30 January 2006
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total cost of compensation payments made to clients of the Child Support Agency for administrative errors was in each of the last five years.
	Financial redress is made to clients in cases where maladministration has occurred. The Agency does not hold robust information to distinguish administrative errors from other acts of maladministration.
	The following table summarises the financial redress payments made to clients in each of the last five financial years, as outlined in the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts.
	
		
			  £ 
			  Financial redress paid to clients 
		
		
			 2000–01 3,053,000 
			 2001–02 2,590,000 
			 2002–03 2,478,000 
			 2003–04 2,331,000 
			 2004–05 3,043,000 
		
	
	I hope you find this information useful.

Child Support

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) face-to-face interviews have been provided, (b) complaints have been received, (c) cases have been referred to the Independent Case Examiner and (d) cases have been raised by hon. and right hon. Members with the Child Support Agency in each year since 1997; what the average cost of each has been in each year; and how policy on each has changed since 1997.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 1 December 2005
	The information requested is as follows:
	(a) Information on face-to-face interviews is only available for 2002–03 for old scheme cases on CSCS, and in 2004–05 for all schemes. Details are included in the following table.
	
		Face to face interviews carried out by the CSA
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2002–03 67,195 
			 2003–04 (98)— 
			 2004–05 26,136 
		
	
	(98) Robust information covering the period 2003–04 is not currently available.
	Under the new legislation (introduced in March 2003), calculating maintenance requires less information and is quicker to establish therefore reducing the need for face-to-face interviews. This will have contributed to the fall in the numbers of interviews between 2002–03 and 2004–05.
	The agency's face-to-face service was replaced in September 2005 with the Client Interviewing Service. This service provides interviews for clients who require assistance. It also uses Compliance Inspector Teams to pursue clients, employers and other parties who fail to co-operate with the agency when required to do so.
	Unfortunately, it is not possible currently to provide estimates of the average cost of carrying out face-to-face interviews.
	(b) The following table provides information on the number of complaints received by the agency since 1997.
	During 2003–04 a three-tier complaints process was introduced. Stage 1 complaints are dealt with by the complaints resolution team located within each of the agency's six business units. Stage 2 complaints are an escalation to the relevant area director when the client is not satisfied with the outcome of stage 1; and stage 3 is an escalation to the chief executive if the client remains dissatisfied.
	Unfortunately, it is not possible currently to provide estimates of the average cost of dealing with agency complaints.
	
		Agency complaints—number of cases received in the agency 1997 to 2005
		
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Stage 1 complaints received (written) 27,875 28,073 21,015 19,634 15,493 15,182 24,809 29,213 
			 Stage 1 complaints received (telephone) (99)— — — — — (100)— 7,458 10,570 
			 Chief executive complaints (101)— — — 4,096 4,555 7,804 (102)— (103)— 
			 Treat official complaints (101)(104)— — — 2,609 2,869 1,344 1,521 1,108 
			 MP complaints to business units (101)— — — 4,175 4,818 4,537 5,317 8,871 
		
	
	(99) While the agency did receive stage 1 telephone complaints prior to 2002–03, their volumes were not recorded, thus preventing meaningful comparison with later years.
	(100) Although 671 stage 1 telephone complaints were recorded between December 2002 and March 2003, their volumes were not recorded throughout the whole year, thus preventing meaningful comparison with later years.
	(101) While the agency did receive complaints directly to the chief executive, treat official complaints, and MP complaints to business units prior to 2000–01, their volumes were not recorded, thus preventing meaningful comparison with later years.
	(102) During 2003–04 complaints sent directly to the chief executive were not recorded separately from those complaints which were escalated to him as part of the three stage process. Therefore, although 7,183 complaints in total were received during 2003–04, it is not possible to separate out those complaints received by the chief executive directly (as opposed to those escalated via the complaints process), thus preventing meaningful comparison with data for earlier years.
	(103) In April and May of 2004, the chief executive received a total of 1,435 complaints but it is not possible to separate out those complaints received by the chief executive directly, as opposed to those escalated to stage 3 of the complaints process. From June 2004 to March 2005, after which time such complaints were recorded separately, the chief executive received 4,352 direct complaints and 2,549 complaints escalated upwards from stage 2. Again, these recording issues prevent meaningful comparison of this category with earlier years.
	(104) Treat official letters are those received by a Minister from a member of the public, and referred for initial consideration to an official of the agency.
	Note:
	The agency has a three-tier complaints process which comprises of: stage 1 complaints from clients which are dealt with by the Complaints Resolution Team located within each of the agency's six business units; stage 2 complaints which are an escalation to the relevant area director when the client is not satisfied with the outcome of stage 1; and stage 3 which is an escalation to the chief executive if the client remains dissatisfied.
	(c) The following table shows the volume of complaints received, accepted and cleared by the Independent Case Examiner (ICE), together with the annual budget and cost per cleared case.
	The ICE can only accept cases that have completed the final stage of the agency's complaints process in the six months prior to the referral to ICE. Cases that concern matters of law, Government policy, have been (or are being) investigated by the parliamentary and health service ombudsman, cannot be accepted. Cases which cannot be accepted are referred back to the agency.
	
		CSA complaints (UK) received, accepted and cleared by ICE
		
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Complaints received 1,087 1,536 1,226 1,488 1,520 1,444 2,190 3,028 
			 Complaints accepted 471 704 584 765 793 717 941 1,285 
			 Cleared by investigation on resolution or withdrawn 204 474 692 619 691 901 890 1,225 
			 Annual budget (£) 1,025,675 920,960 1,040,811 1,176,087 1,623,765 1,873,880 2,224,374 2,469,933 
			 Unit cost (£) 5,028 1,943 1,504 1,900 2,350 2,080 2,499 2,016 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures shown represent complaints received into ICE from Great Britain and Northern Ireland CSA clients.
	2. Unit cost is annual budget divided by the volume of cleared cases.
	(d) Unfortunately, it is not possible to say how many case specific complaints have been raised by hon. and right hon. Members. While the information presented in the table at part (b) shows complaints sent to business units by MPs, these can relate to both case specific and general issues, and cannot be broken down to identify the former. In addition, cases shown as being received by the chief executive are from MPs and also other bodies such as solicitors, pressure groups, local councillors and citizens advice bureaux. Again, this information recorded cannot be broken down further.

Child Support

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total amount of compensation paid to clients by the Child Support Agency (CSA) has been since 1997; and (a) how many and (b) what proportion of complaints about the CSA have been upheld by the Independent Case Examiner since 1997.

James Plaskitt: The following table summarises the compensation payments made to clients in each year since 1997, as outlined in the agency's Annual Report and Accounts.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Amount of compensation paid 
		
		
			 1997–98 1.101 
			 1998–99 4.351 
			 1999–2000 3.075 
			 2000–01 3.053 
			 2001–02 2.590 
			 2002–03 2.478 
			 2003–04 2.331 
			 2004–05 3.043 
		
	
	The following table shows how many full investigations were carried out by ICE on complaints raised about the CSA, and the outcome of those investigations.
	
		CSA (GB) complaints fully investigated by ICE
		
			  Cases fully investigated Fully upheld Partially upheld Not upheld 
		
		
			 1997–98 148 57 (39%) 80 (54%) 11 (7%) 
			 1998–99 229 73 (32%) 148 (65%) 8 (3%) 
			 1999–2000 219 43 (20%) 155 (71%) 21 (9%) 
			 2000–01 286 68 (24%) 195 (68%) 23 (8%) 
			 2001–02 213 46 (22%) 141 (66%) 23 (12%) 
			 2002–03 390 105 (27%) 214 (55%) 71 (18%) 
			 2003–04 436 163 (37%) 214 (49%) 59 (14%) 
			 2004–05 478 183 (37%) 241 (51%) 54 (11%) 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures shown represent complaints received into ICE from Great Britain CSA clients.

Child Support

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what account is taken by the Child Support Agency of jointly incurred debts when assessing maintenance payments;
	(2)  why an overdraft incurred as a result of being unable to pay maintenance and debt repayments is not considered in Child Support Agency assessments.

James Plaskitt: In the new scheme a non-resident parent can apply for a "variation" to the maintenance calculation to have "special expenses" taken into account. In the old scheme either parent can apply for a "departure" from the formula. One of the grounds on which a variation or departure can be applied for is where the non-resident parent (or in the old scheme the absent parent or parent with care) has expenses relating to debts which arose before the non-resident parent became a non-resident parent, and at the time that the non-resident parent and the parent with care were living together.
	The debts must have been incurred for the joint benefit of both parents, or their children, or for the benefit of the other parent but where the person applying remains legally responsible for the repayments.
	Expenses relating to a bank overdraft can be taken into account but only where at the time it was taken out it was agreed to be for a specified amount and repayable over a specified period.
	Only the expenses exceeding a certain threshold are allowed. In the current scheme the threshold is set at £10 a week where the non-resident parent's net weekly income is below £200, and £15 a week where it is £200 or more. In the old scheme the threshold is £15 a week for all cases.
	A departure or variation is only allowed where it is "just and equitable" to do so. Broadly this means that the result of the variation or departure must be fair taking account of all the circumstances of the case, and, in particular, the welfare of any child likely to be affected. This includes the child for whom maintenance is paid as well as any other children living with either parent.

Disability Living Allowance

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claimed the mobility component of disability living allowance in each year since 1997 in (a) Leeds West constituency and (b) Leeds metropolitan district.

Anne McGuire: The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for the chief executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Terry Moran, dated 30 January 2006
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people claimed the mobility component of disability living allowance in each year between 1997 to 2005 in (a) Leeds West constituency and (b) Leeds Metropolitan district.
	The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
	The information requested is not available. Such information as is available is in the following table:
	
		Numbers in receipt of disability living allowance mobility component as at May in each year shown Thousand
		
			  Leeds West parliamentary constituency Leeds local authority 
		
		
			 May:   
			 2005 3.6 28.3 
			 2004 3.5 27.7 
			 2003 3.4 26.8 
			 2002 3.2 25.6 
			 2001 3.1 24.5 
			 2000 2.9 23.0 
			 1999 2.8 22.0 
			 1998 3.1 21.9 
			 1997 2.8 21.1 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Totals show the number of people where the mobility component is in payment.
	2. Local authorities and parliamentary constituencies are assigned by postcode using ONS data.
	3. Leeds local authority is equivalent to Leeds metropolitan district.
	4. Information is not available for the number of people who have "claimed" the mobility component.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study for totals and 5 per cent. for older time series.

Disability Living Allowance

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of disability living allowance there were in each year since its introduction, broken down by type of disability; and what the expenditure was in each case in each year.

Anne McGuire: The available information is in the following tables.
	
		Table 1—Disability living allowance: Numbers of recipients in Great Britain in each year from 1992 to 2005 by recorded main disabling conditions Thousand
		
			  1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 
		
		
			 All recipients recorded main disabling condition 1,048.9 1,229.5 1,367.9 1,578.9 1,761.9 1,941.5 2,054.1 
			 
			 Arthritis 234.5 269.4 295.2 340.5 381.1 423.2 444.1 
			 Muscle/Joint/Bone Disease 91.3 95.6 106.4 122.2 134.6 147.2 155.6 
			 Blindness 23.3 32.1 36.9 42.4 46.0 49.6 52.2 
			 Stroke-related 69.5 74.7 76.0 80.8 83.8 87.7 90.1 
			 Learning Difficulty 95.4 133.4 151.5 168.5 182.0 193.3 204.4 
			 Other mental health causes 55.8 66.2 81.6 108.8 139.2 169.3 199.2 
			 Epilepsy 20.1 24.4 28.9 35.9 40.0 45.0 48.0 
			 Deafness 8.3 9.4 10.0 11.8 13.6 16.2 20.2 
			 Malignant Disease 22.1 24.1 26.3 32.7 35.7 41.1 42.9 
			 Chest Disease 61.0 69.7 72.8 79.4 83.7 87.0 87.4 
			 Back ailments 79.1 88.6 101.9 122.7 145.6 168.0 178.6 
			 Heart Disease 98.5 110.4 118.6 130.3 140.9 149.8 151.2 
			 Parkinsons Disease 6.6 7.9 8.6 9.6 10.5 11.2 12.0 
			 Diabetes Mellitus 19.9 23.1 24.8 28.8 32.8 35.7 37.6 
			 Renal disorders 6.0 6.7 7.3 8.5 9.3 9.4 9.5 
			 Skin diseases 2.8 4.0 5.5 7.0 8.1 9.8 10.8 
			 Other 154.8 190.0 215.3 249.2 275.1 297.9 310.4 
		
	
	
		Thousand
		
			  1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 All recipients recorded main disabling condition 2,121.4 2,192.6 2,305.8 2,423.9 2,546.7 2,643.4 2,715.5 
			 
			 Arthritis 453.5 465.0 481.4 416.0 442.5 465.7 478.5 
			 Muscle/Joint/Bone Disease 161.2 166.6 177.9 160.4 176.3 188.9 198.1 
			 Blindness 54.2 56.0 58.0 55.6 57.6 59.2 60.6 
			 Stroke-related 92.5 94.7 97.9 77.9 82.3 85.4 87.4 
			 Learning Difficulty 212.7 219.8 228.6 218.3 228.6 237.7 246.6 
			 Other mental health causes 221.9 243.4 275.3 311.6 350.2 385.2 414.3 
			 Epilepsy 48.3 50.0 53.0 50.9 53.5 55.1 56.5 
			 Deafness 23.0 25.0 27.3 28.2 29.7 31.0 32.0 
			 Malignant Disease 45.5 47.2 52.1 52.9 56.1 58.4 61.5 
			 Chest Disease 86.1 85.2 85.1 72.1 76.0 78.2 79.2 
			 Back ailments 184.6 191.4 202.3 181.9 191.9 199.1 204.5 
			 Heart Disease 150.7 150.7 153.6 124.3 130.4 132.8 133.2 
			 Parkinsons Disease 12.3 12.7 13.1 11.8 12.7 13.5 14.1 
			 Diabetes Mellitus 39.2 41.2 43.5 43.6 47.5 49.8 51.3 
			 Renal disorders 9.8 10.0 10.7 10.3 10.9 11.3 11.5 
			 Skin diseases 11.5 11.4 11.8 13.1 13.8 14.0 14.1 
			 Other 314.5 322.4 334.2 595.0 586.6 577.9 572.1 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures show number of recipients as at 31 August in 1992 and as at 31 May in each of the years from 1993 to 2005.
	2. Figures for 1992 to 2001 are based on 5 per cent. sample data, and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation; figures for 2004 and 2005 are taken from 100 per cent. work and pensions longitudinal study data.
	3. Figures are in thousands and rounded to the nearest hundred. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate
	
		Table 2—disability living allowance: estimated expenditure in Great Britain in each financial year from 1992–93 to 2004–05, by recorded main disabling condition of recipients (£ million in real terms at 2005–06 prices)
		
			 Recorded main disabling condition 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 
		
		
			 Arthritis 567 766 864 1,039 1,205 1,297 1,350 
			 Muscle/Joint/Bone Disease 237 292 325 377 424 446 469 
			 Blindness 43 65 73 88 99 105 113 
			 Stroke-related 232 284 279 303 319 325 333 
			 Learning Difficulty 254 387 413 466 517 540 562 
			 Other mental health causes 146 200 235 311 403 480 555 
			 Epilepsy 55 79 93 115 132 142 147 
			 Deafness 18 24 25 30 36 41 48 
			 Malignant Disease 77 103 117 144 161 178 188 
			 Chest Disease 145 200 212 241 261 270 267 
			 Back ailments 183 249 294 371 455 502 523 
			 Heart Disease 217 291 319 371 415 429 433 
			 Parkinsons Disease 22 31 32 38 42 45 47 
			 Diabetes Mellitus 49 64 72 85 98 104 111 
			 Renal disorders 15 21 23 28 31 30 31 
			 Skin diseases 7 11 14 17 20 23 24 
			 Other 439 643 727 850 953 999 1,030 
			 Total expenditure 2,708 3,709 4,118 4,873 5,569 5,957 6,231 
		
	
	
		(£ million in real terms at 2005–06 prices)
		
			 Recorded main disabling condition 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002/03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Arthritis 1,405 1,472 1,540 1,587 1,641 1,691 
			 Muscle/Joint/Bone Disease 491 516 556 589 627 656 
			 Blindness 119 125 132 137 142 146 
			 Stroke-related 345 357 368 367 371 377 
			 Learning Difficulty 588 613 652 661 692 724 
			 Other mental health causes 611 687 782 868 975 1,069 
			 Epilepsy 152 161 171 178 186 191 
			 Deafness 52 57 63 68 71 74 
			 Malignant Disease 195 211 230 240 253 268 
			 Chest Disease 272 276 281 284 287 293 
			 Back ailments 547 578 622 652 682 711 
			 Heart Disease 443 455 472 479 489 494 
			 Parkinsons Disease 49 51 53 54 56 59 
			 Diabetes Mellitus 116 125 133 139 144 153 
			 Renal disorders 31 33 35 37 38 39 
			 Skin diseases 25 26 28 31 32 32 
			 Other 1,065 1,115 1,167 1,200 1,241 1,291 
			 Total expenditure 6,506 6,858 7,286 7,568 7,927 8,270 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are in real terms at 2005–06 prices using GDP deflators published by HM Treasury on 28 September 2005, and are consistent with outturn expenditure published in the DWP benefit expenditure tables for PBR 2005.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest million pounds and totals may not sum due to rounding.
	3. Expenditure for 1992–93 and 1993–94 has been apportioned using recorded main disabling condition data from the August 1992 and August 1993 DLA Quarterly Statistical Inquiries. Expenditure for 1994–95 to 2004–05 has been apportioned using the average caseloads from all four Quarterly Statistical Inquiries in those years. Figures for 2004–05 are estimated outturn.
	4. DLA Quarterly Statistical Inquiry data is based on a 5 per cent. sample and is therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.
	Source:
	DWP Cross Cutting Strategy and Analysis Directorate

Financial Assistance Scheme

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of expenditure under the Financial Assistance Scheme in (a) 2005–06 and (b) each year from 2006–07 to 2010–11, under the three-year rule.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 20 January 2006
	It will not be possible to provide firm estimates until we have assessed the eligibility of each scheme and its members. Our latest estimates in current cash terms, based on data provided by a limited number of schemes in late 2004, are shown in the following table. The estimates will change in light of improved information. Over the longer term we estimate expenditure to average £20 million over 20 years.
	
		
			  £ million cash 
			  Pay 80 per cent. to those within three years of scheme pension age 
		
		
			 2005–06 0.5 
			 2006–07 10 
			 2007–08 15 
			 2008–09 25 
			 2009–10 30 
			 2010–11 30

Financial Assistance Scheme

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of expenditure under the Financial Assistance Scheme over each of the next five financial years if the three-year rule were to be extended to a five-year rule.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 20 January 2006
	It will not be possible to provide firm estimates until we have assessed the eligibility of each scheme and its members. Our current estimates, based on data provided by a limited number of schemes in late 2004, in current cash terms are shown in the following table. These estimates will change in light of improved information.
	
		
			  £ million cash 
			  Pay 80 per cent. to those within five years of scheme pension age 
		
		
			 2005–06 0.5 
			 2006–07 10 
			 2007–08 15 
			 2008–09 30 
			 2009–10 40 
			 2010–11 40

Terminally Ill People

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were diagnosed as terminally ill in the latest year for which figures are available; and how many of those claimed attendance allowance.

Anne McGuire: Information about the numbers of people diagnosed as terminally ill is not available. In the 12 months to 31 December 2005 there were 36,900 claims for Attendance Allowance under the Department's "Special Rules" which apply to terminally ill people who have a progressive illness and who are not expected to live longer than six months 1 .
	 1 Source:
	DCS Management Information Service.